The Voice of Pearl
by APearlFromSpace
Summary: When Steven and the Crystal Gems arrived on Homeworld, they could have never guessed what troubles awaited them. White Diamond knows about Pink's fake rebellion, and Pearl is sentenced to be punished for not speaking up about what Pink was doing. Pearl was supposed to be loyal to the Diamond Authorities, to her Diamond, White Diamond. But her feelings got in the way..
1. Chapter 1

The Voice of Pearl

 _(Written during the long hiatus after Legs from here to Homeworld, to Diamond days.)_

 _Chapter One_

The Crystal gems followed Blue and Yellow Pearl as they made their way to the Diamond's court room, tense and worried about Steven's whereabouts. Blue and Yellow had said he would be safe, but it was still difficult to believe after everyone first saw White's Pearl. What had happened to her was clear, they all knew no gem could permanently leave a harmful mark like that other than a Diamond. A very powerful Diamond.

Connie held on to the straps of her backpack tightly as she walked behind Pearl, she was too busy examining the luminous hallway they were walking down to realize her hands getting sweaty from anxiety. The pale gem glanced down at Connie, frowning slightly as she put a reassuring hand on the girls shoulder, now walking alongside her. "Don't worry Connie, I'm sure Steven is safe.. and remember, Blue and Yellow are on our side now." Pearl smiled lightly as Connie looked up at her, feeling some of the tension in her body loosen. The human smiled back up at her mentor, nodding her head. "You're right, we can do this." She replied with determination in her tone and looked ahead, seeing a faint light shining not far from where they were. With each step they all took, the closer they got to the light.

Amethyst was so intrigued by all the fancy decorations and clean tiled floors, she wasn't paying attention to the path in front of her. Her head was tilted back and facing the ceiling as she admired the beautiful Diamond-Shaped chandelier. Her gaze was quickly broken when she bumped in to something, or more like someone. Garnet was in front of her, her fists clenched as she came to a halt. Amethyst walked around her to see her face, even though it was always hard to tell what kind of expression laid behind her reflective glasses. "Garnet, you ok?" The purple gem asked with concern and waited for an answer. "We are about to go in to a court room with all the Diamonds, I wouldn't say I'm ok. It just- still doesn't feel like Yellow or Blue Diamond is actually on our side." The taller gem went rigid, not wanting to put her guard down for even a second. Amethyst sighed, and looked away. "You know more about Homeworld and the Diamonds then I do, so at least you'll be prepared if anything happens!" She chuckled and tried to lighten the mood up even a tiny bit. Garnet sighed as she let her thoughts sweep over her, and her hands relaxed by her sides. "I see a lot of possibilities, and only two of them end in a fight." She finally continued to walk closer to the bright court room ahead, where Pearl and Connie had already gone in.

The group stuck close to each other and walked up to the centre of the room. Yellow and Blue were already sitting in their throne's as their Pearls rushed to stand a few feet behind the Crystal gems. Blue and Yellow Pearl stood side by side, glancing at each other knowingly despite Blue Pearl's eyes being covered by her silky baby-blue hair. They still found it unusual to see their old friend being a part of the Crystal Gems, and disobeying every protocol and formality a Pearl should have. The clothes, her hair, her less-submissive stance and cold eyes… Blue and Yellow Pearl still didn't know how to feel about her return. However, Pearl hadn't even cast a glance at the other two Pearls in the room as if not acknowledging their presence. She was too focused on keeping Connie safe, and making sure the Diamonds didn't try to play any tricks. Garnet on the other hand couldn't help but put on an angry expression on her half covered face as she watched Blue Diamond stand up and walk over to the gems and human in the middle of the huge room. She stopped a few feet away, and gazed down at their new guests. "White and Pink will be here shortly. Yellow suggests that you all refrain from saying anything during the meeting, since we don't exactly know if White's temper has cooled down.." Blue spoke softly, but to the Crystal Gems, it was loud enough. Garnet didn't like her at all, still. Sure she may be acting more kind to them then she would have a thousand years ago, but she still was the same Diamond that wanted to shatter Ruby for fusing with Sapphire. "Steven isn't Pink." Garnet tried to keep her composure as she spoke, meeting the Diamond's gaze. Pearl frowned and looked over at Garnet as if trying to silence her with her glance. The dark red gem wasn't even facing Pearl, and so she had to speak up, which was something no Pearl should do unless advised to by authority. "Garnet… Now isn't the time." Pearl said in a slight whisper, hoping that Blue Diamond wouldn't hear, but she was a Diamond.

Blue brought her wrist up to her mouth and laughed slightly similar to how Sardonyx usually laughed. "Does that call itself.. a Garnet?" She raised an eyebrow and put on a malicious grin, looking down at the fusion as if looking down at a lowly peasant. As soon as the words left her mouth, Garnet let out a very low but aggressive growl as she went back to clenching her fists. Amethyst looked over at Garnet with an awkward expression spread across her face, knowing very well that she wanted to punch the Diamond in front of them. Or even worse, un-fuse. Thankfully as if on cue, a white bubble came down from through the ceiling. Blue Diamond stepped back as the bubble hovered inches from the ground in front of the Crystal Gems. It immediately popped, and Steven stumbled on to the carpeted floor. "Ow! I'll never get used to this.." The half gem got up on his feet, annoyed as he dusted himself off.

"Steven!" Pearl rushed to his side as the boy turned around. "Pearl! Garnet, Amethyst, Connie! You're ok!" He smiled as Connie ran up to him and gave him a quick hug then stepped back. "So what was she like? White Diamond?" Connie asked curiously, and Steven sighed. "I don't think she understands that I'm not Pink Diamond!" The boy said as Pearl put a hand under her chin and pondered. She really had thought White would be smart enough to know that Steven wasn't Pink, but then again, she has never been in this kind of situation ever since her existence. Her thoughts were interrupted by Amethyst's silly laughter. "Yeah I can see that! Nice outfit!" The purple gem commented as she pointed out Steven's new clothing. He was wearing Pink Diamond's clothes, and thankfully they were made to fit him perfectly. Not that Steven liked what he was wearing, but it was better than having to wear a very loose-fitting outfit. The boy blushed crimson as he looked down in embarrassment. "I didn't have a choice! Yellow Diamond told me to make myself look presentable- and I went in to this shower-room like place and when I came back I had nothing to wear but this!" Steven faced his palms up and moved his hands towards his body, referring to his new clothes whilst cringing slightly. Their small discussion about Steven's uniform was interrupted by Blue, who cleared her throat to make her presence known. "Pink, you're a Diamond so you have to separate yourself from these… gems." Blue said as she lowered her hands in between the group and Steven, pushing him away from the others. Everyone but the Diamonds seemed startled by this, especially Pearl. She wanted to be beside Steven, to protect him, but Blue was right. It was absurd in their culture for a Diamond to be standing on low ground amongst low ranked gems- which was basically ever gem on Homeworld that wasn't a Diamond. "You could sit on your throne-" Blue suggested, but Steven was quick to reply. "No! I-I mean… I think I'm ok here." He smiled uneasily as Blue nodded her head. "Very well." She moved her hands away before looking over at her Pearl, who was hiding a hologram-drawing pad behind her back. Blue Diamond sighed and spoke to her in a booming voice. "Pearl, I didn't ask you to start logging the meeting yet." Blue said as Blue Pearl quickly made the drawing disappear, and bowed so elegantly. "Forgive me my Diamond.." She spoke just as soft as her Diamond, keeping her head lowered to show her status. "Pearl, come and stand by my side." Blue Diamond said as she turned her back and went back to her throne. Blue Pearl smoothly followed, and stood like a stature beside the left of the large Blue throne.

"Pearl, you too." Yellow said as the other Pearl smiled happily and perked up as she made her way beside her Diamond, standing on the right side of the Yellow throne so she was once again, side by side with Blue Pearl. Sure they were a few feet away from each other, but it was enough to be able to talk to each other with nothing but glances and facial expressions. Blue and Yellow Diamond both looked at Steven as if waiting for him to say something, and the boy started to panic. "Uhh… am I supposed to do something..?" He asked nervously, emitting a long sigh from Yellow Diamond. "Its only a formality to ask for your Pearl to stand beside you. Only privileged gems get to have Pearls, and you are a Diamond." Yellow responded coldly, but caring in a way since she was still making sure Steven would be able to fit in more in Homeworld. "Oh.. right.." He said as he looked over at Pearl, who had a knowing smile on her face, letting him know it was ok. Which did in fact make him feel a little better. "Pearl.. uh.. can you stand next to me?" He once again, said so nervously. The pale gem smiled. "Of course." She said as she left the group and walked over to Steven, standing by his side. Garnet, Amethyst and Connie all felt like they lost a piece of themselves as Pearl made her way over to Steven. None of them liked this set up at all. The three Diamonds on the far side of the room, while Steven and Pearl were over on the left centre of the room while they were on the right. It was like having three groups that were all going to be on a different page. Something just didn't feel right.

"Thank the stars you're all here!" White Diamond entered the room as her heels clicked on the tiled floor.


	2. Chapter 2

The Voice of Pearl

 _Chapter Two_

White Diamond's emotionless beaming smile silenced the room as she walked luminously to her throne, which was in-between Blue and Yellow's throne. Her hair glowed more brightly under the contrast of the court room which had a crimson red carpet covering the centre of the salmon pink glossy floor, while the walls looked like an endless forest of leafless white trees. The three Diamonds fixed their gaze on Steven and Pearl, then White moved her hand in front of herself and motioned for him to come closer. "Step forward, we will only need Pink for this silly meeting." White said as she clapped her hands. Out of nowhere, White Pearl floated out of hiding from behind White Diamond's throne. Her hands up parallel with her shoulders as she too, had an emotionless smile on her face. "Take our guests to the waiting room." White Diamond commanded as she waved her hand. "Yes my Diamond." The Pearl said as she swiftly floated over to the group of Connie, Garnet and Amethyst. The human started to panic, stepping behind Garnet as the White Pearl approached them. "W-wait!" Connie shouted, but it was too late. White Pearl engulfed herself and the three Crystal Gems in a large white bubble, and the bubble quickly travelled out of the room and down the hall they had been walking along minutes ago. Steven gulped as he watched his friends go, but thankfully he still had Pearl. He moved closer to her out of instinct as White used her abilities to make the large doors the gems had walked through slam shut loudly. The sound echoed through out the large room, and even the Pearls were all shaken by the vibration it caused.

"So, why are we here today?" White asked as Steven stuttered to speak, but Yellow Diamond interrupted. "Me and Blue are here to ask for assistance in restoring the.. corrupted gems on Earth. The obliteration failed to destroy the gem inhabitants of Earth, and instead turned them in to mindless beasts. It is something we can not fix alone." Yellow said as she met White's downcast gaze, and the bigger Diamond seemed unimpressed. Or if Steven didn't know any better, it seemed like she didn't even care. "And what ever happened to the cluster?" White asked in a slightly annoyed tone, despite her huge smile, it was clear that she was furious. This time Blue Diamond spoke, hoping to the stars that White wouldn't lash out. "The cluster remains within Earth's core, and chose to stay incubated on Earth. The corrupted gems on that planet and the other organic life has survived the temporary emerge of the cluster, and it is at rest once again." Blue frowned, not wanting to speak further about the cluster, which could have killed Pink and a thousand other very useful gems from Era One. "We need your help to bring those gem soldiers back to Homeworld with a clear mind. Me, Yellow and Pink were able to cure one for a short amount of time, but it was nothing permanent." She finished speaking as White hummed in thought. Every one was tense, and Pearl was ready to pull out her spear if White decided to lash out. She sure would be poofed, but her resistance would give Steven enough time to run. Thats all that mattered, keeping Steven safe.

"The cluster was a failure, oh how unprecedented!" White said loudly in an angry tone, but she kept her cool and remained seated in her throne. "Give me one reason to go all the way to Earth to save this small portion of Pink's soldiers." She almost demanded and waited for a response, while Blue and Yellow looked at each other with concern. They both knew very well that this meeting wasn't going so well already. Now was the time Steven thought he should step in, drop the formalities and make White understand. He took a small step forward with a determined look on his face. "Those soldiers are lives too! They don't deserve to spend the rest of their life lost and confused on Earth! We need to help them!" Steven protested desperately, suddenly he was not so afraid of White Diamond. If he could get her to understand, everything would change for the better. However, the bright gem just chuckled and crossed her legs. "Pink…There are gems loyal to your fake persona, who wanted to go against us! It's not worth curing the traitors. I believe we have more important matters to discuss then about the Earth." White fixed her gaze completely on Steven, her Diamond shaped pupils unmoving as her long lashes blinked. "You begged for your own colony, and we gave you one. Then you started a rebellion against yourself and shattered thousands of gems who were loyal to you and your fake persona. You tricked them in to fighting each other until eventually you faked your own shattering. Every one on Homeworld mourned for you while you were running around Earth scheming behind our backs. And what did that lead to? Every gem on Earth being.. what was the word? Corrupted? Thousands of years of the Gem War so that you could live on Earth! And your Pearl? You used her loyalty to get her to do all this nonsense, gave her whatever false hope so you could have your way. Was it really worth it Pink? Did you have fun? Watching everyone shatter each other?" White chuckled, tapping her finger on her arm rest as she watched Steven tremble. It wasn't only Steven that was trembling, but so was Pearl. Seeing Pearl so scared only made Steven more afraid of White Diamond.

"It wasn't like that! She wanted a planet so that she could create life out of nothing, but when she realized what it would do to the Earth-" Steven couldn't finish as White stood up so suddenly and interrupted him. "We TOLD you. Over and over again about the process of a Diamond invasion. I gave you my Pearl for extra help, and look what you've done to her!" White laughed, but when it died down she became more serious. "I came to this meeting to open a case to have your title as a Diamond removed. Such selfishness and ignorance like this cannot be forgiven by the public. Or by me." She said coldly, her smile had finally faded, which just made the atmosphere in the room worse than it already was. "White- Are you insisting that we.." Blue said in a shaky voice, thinking that White was going to shatter Pink for real this time. There was no other way she could think of her title as a Diamond being removed. However she was slightly relived when the bright gem shook her head. "She wanted to be a Rose Quartz, so let's see how she likes it being one." White said as she lifted her hand up in front of her. Steven couldn't move, and everything started to hurt. His vision started to blur as his body became numb. His eyes closed as he felt Rose- He could feel Rose taking over him.

"STEVEN!" Pearl leaped up and wrapped her arms around him tightly like a seatbelt, and White seemed surprised by the act, maybe even a bit entertaining. She lowered her hand and Pearl fell to the floor with Steven in his arms. "Steven?! STEVEN!" She felt her eyes starting to water until eventually tears started pouring out of her eyes. At first she thought it was just her emotions making her cry, but she came to realize that the whole room seemed so blue. Yellow Diamond, and the Pearls were crying heavily while White just shed a single tear and flicked it away. "Please wake up.." Pearl held on to him tightly, but not too tight. She never wanted to let him go, but the boy remained unconscious. During his unconsciousness however he had a dream, a very horrifying dream. He was reliving the last few moments of his consciousness. His whole body ached, and he was floating in a vast darkness. "Urgh! P-Pearl?! Where are- OW!" Steven put a hand over his gem, knowing that some thing was still very wrong. He could see a bright Diamond-shaped light that was approaching him. The weird feeling in his gem started to make him feel nauseous, until suddenly he opened his mouth to gag and empty our the contents of his stomach, but instead of food, pink curly hair flowed out of his mouth as if something was being pulled away from him. Rose's hair- and then, he was surrounded by the bright light.

His eyes shot open as he had cold sweat dripping down his whole face. He sat up quickly, his body shaking and his pupils small from shock. He took deep breaths and tried to calm himself down and focus on something else. He was.. in his mom's room again. Except this time, he felt himself sitting on top of a very soft pink bed. It was the perfect size for him as well, so he didn't struggle on getting up on his two feet. "P…Pearl..?" He called out for her weakly, looking around the room in a hurry to find her. His vision was still a bit of a fuzz, but he could see a figure running towards him. Pearl hugged him tightly, putting a hand behind his head as Steven hugged her back. "Oh Steven.. I was so worried.." Pearl gently stroked his hair, never wanting for the hug to end. Especially when she felt tears fall on to her shoulder. Steven was crying, trying to stop by sniffling but it didn't help. "I..I thought I could do this.." The half gem said in a shaky voice, his body still trembling. "Shh.. calm down.. You're ok Steven.." Pearl softly reassured him and continued to comfort him as his trembling started to decrease. The pale gem frowned, knowing now that White can and will hurt Steven. Thankfully Blue's crying seemed to had calmed down her temper, so the meeting was dismissed and Pearl was able to take Steven to Pink's room, which had a small healing aura within it. Even if he may be physically better, she couldn't undo his memories. The gem sighed as she picked Steven up and walked over to the bed. He put him down gently as he sat on the edge with his toes inches from the pink floor. Pearl sat down next to him, worried about what he could possibly be thinking right now. "I'm so sorry you had to experience that.." Pearl frowned. "White can be.. irrational when she's angry. I think its best that we wait a couple days before having another meeting.." She said as she looked over at Steven, who was also frowning and looking down with tired eyes. "Pearl… I.. I'm sorry that my mom used you for her rebellion.. I never even thought about what you could have been feeling during the whole war…" Steven felt his eyes water again. "You loved her.. and.. she took advantage of that to make you help her… I always thought my mom was a good person, but I guess no one can ever be completely good.." The boy said as depression started to hit him.

"..Steven.. it was my fault. You don't have to apologize for your mother's mistakes.." She put an arm around him and gave him a small hug. "I was… blinded by love. I was focused on trying to get her to love me so much, that I wasn't even thinking of my actions.. And in the end, it didn't even matter.. But- something good came out of all of this." Pearl's light smile returned as her eyes met Steven's. "If all of this hadn't happened- You wouldn't be here.. And Steven.. I think you're a good person. Better than your mother.. and I know it's not fair that you have to fix up all of her mistakes- But you're not alone Steven. Im here, Garnet, Amethyst, Connie, Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth and even Greg!" She chuckled, happy to see Steven chuckle as well. "So if there is anything I can do to help.. I'm here for you." Pearl said as she felt a tight hug from Steven. "Thank you Pearl.." The touching moment was interrupted by a loud growl from Steven's stomach. He blushed as the hug ended. "C.. could I have that lunch you packed for me?"


	3. Chapter 3

The Voice of Pearl

 _Chapter Three_

"How much longer do we have to be in here?" Connie asked the fusion that had been standing calmly in the corner of the bright room, leaning against the wall. Garnet sighed, fixing her reflective glasses as she thought for a moment. "I think she would have a better answer for you." Garnet referred to the statue-like Pearl standing in front of the door they all came through. White Pearl had taken Garnet, Amethyst and Connie to the waiting room as White Diamond instructed. The room was big, but defiantly too small for any of the Diamonds except Pink. There were small sized couches on each side of the windowless room, and a couple alien-plants in vases decorating the area. It did infect have the waiting room vibe to it, if it wasn't for the creepy Pearl blocking the doorway. Whenever any of them tried to get past her, she would bubble them in a white bubble and move them to the far side of the room. Amethyst had tried about ten times before giving up and slumping on the couch.

Connie took a deep breath before slowly and carefully approaching White Pearl. She made sure not to get too close, since she didn't want the pale gem to think that she was trying to escape the room and bubble her. "Uh..Hi..Um.. I was wondering if you knew when we could see Steven and Pearl.. We've been waiting here for about.." Connie checked her wrist watch quickly. "Three hours!" She tried to hide the frustration in her voice, but even if she did, there was no telling what was going through the Pearl's mind. White Pearl didn't speak for a couple seconds, as if slowly processing every word Connie had said like a robot. "You will all remain here until White Diamond deems it necessary for your presence." The Pearl said with dead eyes, looking right through Connie with that huge fake smile. The human girl frowned, glancing back at Garnet and Amethyst as if asking for help. It was then that the red gem stood up straight and walked up to the Pearl, standing beside Connie. "There is only one way to leave this room." She said coldly in her semi-British accent as she summoned her gauntlets. Amethyst sat up on the couch, her eyes widening slightly before a malicious grin appearing on her face. "Yeah now we're talkin!" The purple gem hopped off the couch and summoned her whip, taking a defensive stance behind Garnet just in case she needed help with poofing the Pearl. "WAIT!" Connie shouted as she stood in between the Pearl and the two Crystal gems, spreading her arms out as she looked in to Garnet's covered eyes with fear. "We shouldn't fight! We might anger White Diamond! And.. This Pearl doesn't deserve to be hurt any more.." The human said as she glanced over her shoulder back at the Pearl, getting a quick glimpse of the broken eye and dark cracks on her skin going down her neck. Her frown grew at the sight, and she moved her attention back to Garnet and Amethyst. "She's only following orders! None of us has to get hurt- it's what Steven would want. If it means waiting for another hour in here, then that's what we will do. It's what I would do." She finished speaking, silence filling the room until the sound of Garnet's gauntlets disappearing reached every ones ears. Amethyst did the same, looked away slightly embarrassed. "Its true. Wouldn't want a Diamond chasing our tails, right Garnet?" Amethyst commented with an awkward smile and a shrug. Garnet gave the Pearl once last glance before nodding. "You're right. I shouldn't act so irrational.. but just thinking about what Blue Diamond said makes me so- so.." Garnet clenched her fists, her body shaking for a brief second as if she was going to un-fuse. "Angry…" She sighed and turned around, sitting on the couch next to Amethyst with her legs crossed and foot tapping on the floor. Connie put her arms down back to her sides, finally seeming to understand. So thats what was going though Garnet's mind this whole entire time behind her poker face. The human turned around to look at White Pearl, giving her a light and apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about that.. we are all just.. scared right now. None of us have exactly been in this kind of situation.." She blushed slightly as she scratched the back of her head, the nervousness returning. The White Pearl didn't say anything, and didn't even more or change her facial expression. Just remained hovering a few inches off the ground with her body still as a statue. However, something caught Connie's attention.. A very small and clear tear rolling down her cheek from the corner of her one good eye. "A..are you ok..?" The girl asked as she moved a little closer to the Pearl, noticing that her body was shaking ever so slightly as if restraining herself from moving. "You can talk to me, I don't judge." Connie tried to reassure her with a friendly smile, but it didn't work. The tear dropped from her face and on to the floor, her small frame no longer trembling as she went back to normal. "White Diamond has granted you permission to Yellow Diamond's control room." Pearl said in a monotone voice as the doors behind her opened automatically. Garnet and Amethyst got up, eager to leave this room. But before any of them could do anything, the three Crystal Gems were once again engulfed in their own separate White bubbles. "Ah! Garnet! Amethyst!" Connie panicked, trying to see past the solid white color. It was impossible, but thankfully it only took a few minutes for the bubble to pop. Connie was confused at first as to where she was, but quickly figured it out due to all the yellow decorations bring the room to life.

Meanwhile, Pearl was sitting on Stevens small pink bed and watched him eat the sandwich she had made for him before leaving Earth. "So.. You had a dream about Rose?" She asked curiously, and the boy nodded with his mouthful. He quickly swallowed the bits he had been chewing to correct Pearl, or give her more detail about the dream. "I had a dream that.. Rose was being pulled out of me.. and my gem was hurting.." He said as he looked down at the shimmering pink gem on his belly button. Pearl glanced at it as well before returning to meet Steven's eyes. "That sounds a lot like a dream that was made through your last few dramatic moments before blacking out. I didn't know White had the ability to change a gems gem.. She could have just been trying to scare you." She said out loud, regretting it as she saw Steven frown. "B-but don't worry! I'm sure when her temper has cooled down, she won't try that again!" Pearl held Steven's free hand as his other put the small remaining piece of the sandwich in his mouth. He held on to her hand as he swallowed and looked down at the pink blanket of the bed. "Do you think we could ever get White Diamond to understand?" He asked as he looked up at Pearl, who looked back uneasily. "Possibly.. its a very slim chance, but White doesn't really have the capability to care about others.." She once again regretted what she said, knowing that she was supposed to be encouraging Steven, not discouraging him. "H..how about we do something to get our minds off of this stressful situation? There are plenty to see within the Diamond Palace!" She tried to cheer him up, not knowing if it was helping. Steven could hear the nervousness in her tone, and could see her fiddling her hands. "I don't really want to leave this room right now.. We might bump in to White Diamond, and I don't want to make her more angry then she already is.." He replied, finally understanding what Pearl meant when she told him White wasn't like the other Diamonds. She was insane, and her powers made her more of a threat. "I know theres a few thing in Pink's room that we could do." Pearl said as she got up and made her way to the centre of the large room. The half gem followed her, not wanting to be separated even by a few feet from her. Pearl closed her eyes, putting her hands together as if praying as her gem glowed brightly. It seemed to have activated something in Pink's room, since the floor in front of them started to shift. A small pink desk a lot like the one on the moon base emerged from the ground, along with a pink chair. Pearls gem stopped glowing as she motioned for Steven to sit in the big seat, which was thankfully not so huge since Pink was one of the smaller Diamonds. Steven sat down, trying to make himself comfortable as Pearl put a hand on the platform of the desk. A slightly opaque screen turned on in front of him. "When I served Pink Diamond, she used to use her control unit to keep herself busy while the other Diamonds colonized planets and did other important Diamond business." Pearl changed the screen, looking for something in particular. "Pink was always sent to her room by the Diamonds whenever she did something..unprecedented.. Which was nearly everyday!" She chuckled slightly as she pressed one of the small boxes on the screen. A small panel on the Diamond-Desk descended in to the desk, and came back up with four pen shaped rocks that were each different colors. Pearl smiled as she handed the pink colored rock to Steven. The screen infant of him turned pale and took the shape of a Diamond, it was blank. No weird gem letters sprawled across it. "Try drawing on the desk with that." She recommend as Steven curiously held the rock like he would a pencil, and dragged it across the table which glowed slightly at the contact. He drew a line, and when he looked up at the screen, a pink line had appeared on the blank diamond-shaped screen. Pearl couldn't be happier to see the joyful smile spread across Stevens face as he lit up. "Its like a drawing pad! .. So mom used to draw..?" He asked and looked over to Pearl, who was instinctively standing so gracefully beside him. "She loved to draw! It was one of the things she would do when she was upset from being sent to her room." Pearl said as she watched Steven draw, using some of the other colors as well. There was a silence as he focused on drawing, until after a couple minutes he paused and turned to face Pearl. "Are there any of mom's drawings on here?" He asked curiously, and Pearl nodded. She moved her hand along the screen, and a small gallery of drawings popped up. "Some of her early drawings were my favorite." She commented with a sight teal blush on her cheeks. After hearing that, Steven scrolled down to the end of the gallery, to her first few drawings. He selected the first one, and it appeared bigger on the screen. It was a drawing of what seemed to be a pink tear drop falling from space, and there were gems underneath it seeming happy and celebrating. Steven then swiped to the next drawing, which was one of all the Diamonds together. They all looked like a happy family in the drawing, even Blue was smiling. The only one who wasn't smiling was yellow, but she did always have that stern look on her face. Steven put his hand gently on the screen, wanting to be a part of that drawing. Wanting to be a part of a happy Diamond family- which seemed impossible now. The only Diamonds that seemed close to each other was Blue and Yellow. The boy sighed as he looked in to the drawing, a mixture of emotions going through him. Pearl seemed to notice the sudden sadness and opened her mouth to speak, when suddenly a notification appeared on the screen with a slight tinging noise. Unlike everything else on the screen, it was a dark but bright blue, and had foreign letters on it. Pearl squinted her eyes and read it carefully, and when she frowned, Steven started to worry all over again. "W-what does it say?" He asked Pearl, who crossed her arms and looked at him awkwardly.

"Blue Diamond wants us to go to her quarters."


	4. Chapter 4

The Voice of Pearl

 _Chapter Four_

Steven and Pearl both frowned when she finished reading the blue foreign message. They had to go to Blue Diamond's quarters, but for what? Steven had hope that she just wanted to talk and figure things out, since out of all the Diamonds Blue seems to be the most caring one. The half gem turned his head and met Pearl's gaze, both of them feeling uneasy. "W-Why does she want us to go?" Steven knew Pearl wouldn't know the exact answer, but wanted her input. She has been with the Diamonds longer than any person or gem has, since as far as Steven knew, White Diamond was one of the first gems to ever exist.

"She won't hurt you, so I'm sure theres nothing to worry about! Hopefully its just a quick talk about the events that happened earlier.." Pearl said with a heavy sigh, lightly putting her hand over her mouth as she gazed at the message on the screen. "We should start heading there. Its a bit of a walk from your mother's room, but that will give us more time to plan for what Blue might have in store for you." She walked over to the Diamond-Desk, and before Pearl could lay a hand on the screen, Steven had stopped her. "Wait.." He said as he swiped away the message and then swiped to Pink's next drawing which had been opaquely hiding behind the first one. He scanned the new imagine like he was searching for something. "This one is exactly like the other drawing- But everyone looks so upset, and moms not in it.." The frown returned on his face as he looked at it. The drawing was almost identical to the one Pink drew earlier, except in this one didn't have a happy family vibe to it. Pearl quickly swiped the screen away and turned off the console. "We should go. Blue Diamond is expecting us.." She said as Steven hopped off the solid pink chair and landed on his two feet. The pale gem put her hand flat down on the Diamond-Desk as her gem glowed brightly, and when she stepped back, the desk and chair descended back down and was covered by the tiled floor as if nothing had ever been in the empty space. Pearl turned around and held out her hand, a friendly smile on her face as she waited for Steven. "I'll be there with you the whole time." She watched as Steven took her hand, smiling back.

The two walked to the other side of Pink's room, stepping on to a circular surface on the floor that glowed when Steven's feet came in contact with it. Pearl could see the surprised look on his face as they stood on the glowing pink surface. "This place doesn't exactly have doors, so we will be taking a short ride on this platform. All you have to do is tell it you want to go down to the first floor." She gave him the instructions, and the boy nodded, hesitantly taking a deep breath before speaking. "Take us to the first floor. Please." Steven smiled and waited for something to happen, but nothing ever did. "Steven, you have to say 'I want to go to the first floor', just like how your mother did. She did design her own room after all, maybe you can change it up a bit later?" She said as Steven shrugged. "Maybe, but I think we have more important things to do first!" He said as he pushed away his negative thoughts. He knew Pink had said how she 'wanted her own planet', and 'wanted her own army', and he started to realize how childish his mother was. She wanted this, she wanted that, she didn't even bother with formalities and gratitude like the other Diamonds. He quickly shook off the thoughts and replaced his concerned expression with a determined one. "I want to go to the first floor." He said confidently, and the round floor-pad underneath them dropped down at a fast speed. "AHHHH!" Steven screamed at the top of his lungs, closing his eyes shut tight and covering his head with his arms as if bracing for impact. "Steven, it's ok! Look!" Pearls soothing voice was oddly heard through out the loud swooshing noise of the platform they were on going down.

Steven trusted Pearl, and slowly opened one eye. He realized that they were.. not falling, their feet were firmly stuck on to the platform as if gravity remained the same within the pad. He opened both of his eyes and curiously looked around at the blurry walls and levels they were passing through. "This is so cool! Its like a future elevator!" Steven beamed, walking around on the platform casually while chuckling with joy. They were falling at such a fast speed, but everything seemed normal. Like how when he went on a plane, everything felt fine despite going hundreds of miles per hour in the sky- It never felt like he was moving at all in the plane, and thats exactly how he felt now. "Don't get too close to the edge Steven, your mother did that a couple times and poofed.." She said with concern as the boy quickly stepped back next to Pearl in the centre of the pink platform. "I'll stay here.." Steven smiled nervously and stood next to Pearl, not noticing that the gem-elevator they were on slowing down until gradually coming to a stop on the first floor. Pearl motioned for Steven to get off before her, and he did so. The half gem stepped off the platform and walked a few steps down the hallway before turning around to make sure Pearl was following him.

"Pearl, why are you walking so far away from me..?" Steven asked as he stopped and turned around to face her. The pale gem stopped in her tracks with a blue blush forming on her cheeks. "It's just.. You're a Diamond, and Im a Pearl. We are supposed to walk behind our owners when traveling from one place to another." The gem smiled uneasily, and despite what she had just said, Steven walked back and stood in front of her. "I may have mom's gem, but I'm not a Diamond.. I'm Steven." He commented in a mature manner, taking Pearl by surprise. Steven wanted Pearl to walk with him instead of walking behind and telling him which turns to take. He remembered the time in the Human Zoo all too well, when Holly Blue Agate bossed around and treated Pearl poorly. "As long as you have her gem, your considered a Diamond on Homeworld.. But I very much prefer Steven." She gave him a reassuring smile and the two of them continued their journey to Blue Diamond's quarters. Steven could tell they were getting close when the pink decorations along the hallway walls started to become blue. He still had time before they would arrive at her room, so he decided to ask the question that had been put away in the back of his mind until now. "So.. In the court, White Diamond said she gave you to mom.." The boy said awkwardly, still walking but his eyes looking down at the floor.

He heard Pearl sigh, and knew she was probably frowning. "Yes. I know you probably have many questions, but I did promise you that I'll tell you everything from now on. So.. I can tell you about my history with White Diamond if you would like to hear it." Pearl replied in her soft voice, rubbing her arm as she tried to stay calm. "Only if you're ok talking about it.." The half gem started to regret bringing up the subject. Now probably wasn't the best time, but it may turn out to be the only time. "I'll tell you then, but I want you to promise me that.. that you won't hate me or get mad at me after I tell you.." Pearl stopped walking. "I need to hear it.." The pale gem met Stevens eyes, and he could tell she was more afraid of his reactions rather than her own past. "I can never hate you Pearl! I promise! No matter what dark past you might have, you're different now. Isn't that all that matters?" He smiled adorably, and Pearl couldn't help but smile back. "Alright, I'll try and sum everything all up for you." She said as the two continued walking down the hallway.

"I was originally made because White Diamond ordered a Pearl only a few years after she came in to existence. When I emerged, I only knew that my whole life and purpose was to serve White. I was loyal to that thought, and didn't care about anything but her." She frowned. "It was.. bad. Imagine a world where only White Diamond gave out orders and did as she pleased with other gems-That was the world I was living in until Yellow and Blue Diamond came along. Things started to balance out more with three Diamonds taking command of Homeworld and all its gems. However, that never changed my behavior. I believed that everything White was doing was right, and that I had to keep her happy and put the new Diamonds aside. When I served her, I did.. a lot of horrible things. But everything started to change when Yellow and Blue got their own Pearls." Her frown faded slightly, and she continued. "The Diamonds had a lot of meetings back in the days, and during these meetings all Pearls were supposed to stand and wait outside the meeting rooms. Eventually my curiosity grew more and more stronger every time I would see Yellow or Blue Pearl, since I had never met or seen another Pearl until then, and I couldn't help but feel.. some sort of a connection. So I decided to talk to them, and we became acquaintances. But Yellow and Blue Pearl still feared me, just like how Yellow and Blue Diamond feared White. I was never able to become close to them, not how Yellow Pearl was so close to Blue Pearl. But then again, Blue and Yellow Diamond were very close to each other as well, always keeping each other company because White never did." She blushed a light shade of blue. "S-sorry I'm getting off topic! Um.. well many many years after Yellow and Blue emerged, your mother came in to existence. She was given her own Pearl just like the other Diamonds. Pink was.. considered not mature enough to be doing a Diamonds work. She didn't have any of her own soldiers or any actual tasks to do. So she always spent every second of her days with her Pearl, playing around and changing her Pearl's hair." She chuckled, remembering the memory of Pink convincing Pearl to change her hair to pink after she was given to her. "I never got to talk to Pink Pearl since your mother never attended any meetings."

"Anyway- Her Pearl became more less like a Pearl everyday, and started to become a reflection of Pink. She hardly showed any formalities, and acted just like her. Whenever Pink would complain about something to the other Diamonds, her Pearl would join in as well.. They were.. very very close friends. I envied her Pearl, since she was able to become so close to her Diamond in a short amount of time even though she wasn't always obedient and respected her like how we were supposed to respect a Diamond.. Pink Pearl was- considered the worst Pearl on Homeworld to ever exist. White Diamond wanted to fix that, so when she got the opportunity, she took it." Pearl paused for a moment, and continued. "Pink had been whining about wanting her own planet, and eventually the Diamonds gave her one. That was Earth. So when Pink Diamond was assigned to Earth, White offered to lend me to her to assist in her first invasion because Pink Pearl was…. clueless and considered… too immature to be seen in the public eye. I knew every step of a Diamond invasion- So White took Pink's Pearl, and started to 'train' her to become more obedient, and act more like a Pearl, While I was assisting Pink Diamond with her invasion because she didn't know how to do anything, and found everything boring. I think she was expecting it to be more exciting- and in the end, I ended up doing most of the necessary things in the invasion. And I really thought that by doing so, I could make her happy, and I was supposed to make her happy and help her see the importance of a Diamond.. But it went the other way around. Your mother gave me a wakeup call, and I started to see the whole world differently because of her kindness. She treated me like I mattered, as if I was equivalent to her. She helped me imagine things and think for myself for the first time in eons… And that lead me to giving her the idea of sneaking off to Earth and becoming Rose Quartz.." She sighed. "And then from there, I.. fell in love with Rose. She was a different version of Pink, and was beautiful in every way.. I kept telling myself a fake story about how I ran away and met a Rose Quartz on Earth. I compared my life with White to the life I was having now with Rose, and I choose to stay with her then go back to Homeworld." She finished her story, and glanced down at Steven with worried eyes. Steven's dark brown eyes looked up at her as they both stopped walking. "She.. saved you." He said in a happy realization that his mother wasn't completely selfish. Even if it was nothing to compared to all the wrongs she did, it was something that had saved Earth. If it wasn't for Pearl, Earth wouldn't be here.

"She did save me. She saved me from being enslaved and brainwashed, and help me become who I really was. Not what White Diamond wanted me to be. She was.. the first being in my life that actually cared about me." Pearl's blue blush returned on her pale cheeks. Steven smiled, actually hearing something good about his mother for the first time in a while now. He was so lost in his happy thoughts, that he didn't even notice the large blue doors standing tall at the end of the spacious, quiet hallway. "We are here.." Pearl took a big step back. "The doors should open for you when you approach it. I'll be right behind you." She said as Steven nodded, understanding that Pearl was walking far behind him only for their appearances in front of Blue Diamond. He took a deep breath, and approached the doors.


	5. Chapter 5

The Voice of Pearl

 _Chapter Five_

Steven walked in to the peaceful blue room, while Pearl followed nervously from behind. The boy jumped slightly as the huge doors closed behind them, making a loud noise echo throughout the room. Despite the frightful silence, Steven kept walking further in to Blue Diamond's quarters. He kept his eyes and ears open as he scanned the room for any sign of Blue Diamond. Up ahead, there seemed to be a large opening leading right in to another room the size of a billion comets. That had to be the room, and his theory was confirmed when he saw Blue Pearl standing in front of an ocean of wavy blue tubes that seemed to have water flowing inside of them. The outer side of the room was surrounded by water, the weird shaped tubes curving in and out of the still water around the room like a sea dragon. Blue Pearl seemed undisturbed by his sudden presence, and remained quiet and graceful, and away from the centre of the room. As Steven walked closer, he saw more and more. Blue Diamond was sitting in another one of her thrones inside her Palakeen, which seemed even more greater than the one Steven had seen in the court room with lars. The one that he had destroyed. He pushed the memory away, and continued to examine the room. Different shades of blue sparkling against the dimmed lights spread through out the outer sides of the room against the wall and underneath the still water, illuminating a blue tint to the already very blue room. The floor underneath him and Pearl changed from blue tiles to dark gray abstract stones, perfectly covering up the whole surface of the room. It wasn't until Steven walked in to the light that Blue Diamond noticed his presence. With a wave of her hand, her Palakeen disappeared, but the throne remained. She was still sitting on it as it slowly connected itself with the ground. Blue Diamond threw off the hood over her face as Steven and Pearl approached closer. She seemed happy to see them at first, but her face quickly cringed as she held out her hand in a stop motion. Steven and Pearl both stopped walking as Blue Diamond spoke. "Pearls are to remain on the stand." Blue said as she referred to the area Blue Pearl was standing on in a perfect posture. "O..oh.." Steven stuttered as he turned around to look at the pale gem. "Pearl.. stand over there." He resisted the urge to say please, and hated seeing Pearl bow to him and follow his order like an obedient dog. Pearl stood beside Blue Pearl, looking over at her with a friendly smile on her face. She couldn't help but be a little bit happy that she was standing next to another Pearl, and an old friend. The gem couldn't tell if Blue Pearl was even looking at her, but she did speak to her. Blue Pearl turned her head ever so slightly to face Pearl, keeping the rest of her body still in her previous posture.

"Welcome back." She said in her soft voice to the White Pearl standing beside her, her face remaining emotionless just like before. She didn't seem happy nor sad to see Pearl, and she felt herself frown as she listened to those two words. She couldn't tell if Blue Pearl was saying it passive aggressively, sarcastically, or welcomingly. The more she thought about it, the more reasons came popping up in her thoughts as to why Blue Pearl could be upset at her. The other Pearl knew what she had done whilst serving White Diamond, and watched her take away Pink Pearl's life and believed that she had been shattered in the Gem War. Now that everyone in the Diamond Palace knew about this fake war, there was bound to be some anger towards Steven and her. Especially since Blue Pearl had witnessed the abuse of Pink Pearl, who had been mentally and physically tortured and broken. Pearl couldn't even begin to imagine the possibility that Pink Pearl could have been the one to go to Earth with Rose, while she remained stuck on Homeworld with White Diamond. She shut her eyes tightly, and when she opened them she focused her attention back to Steven who was standing in front of Blue Diamond. Blue Pearl watched everything around her through her soft blue bangs, curious to see as to how this would play out. Then the loud booming voice of Blue filled the room. "Pink! Or..Steven? I called you here to discuss a very important matter. I fear that if we don't fix this situation soon, White may do some irreversible damage to you.. at best, she will take her anger out on her Pearl, or your Pearl." She let out a sigh and met Steven's eyes. "White.. isn't going to take any of this seriously. She's most likely so embarrassed and upset about this new discovery, that she's trying to get her mind off it by not making a big deal out of your return." Blue frowned, and Steven replied."Well.. if White Diamond won't take this seriously, then how do we get her to take it seriously?" Steven asked with a shimmer of hope in his dark brown eyes. He looked up at the graceful Diamond, watching as she pondered in thought. "One of the things White does take seriously are public trials and cases. She had always been so interested in that, but I think it's because she just enjoys toying around with gems she doesn't like in court.." Blue nearly rolled her eyes as she said that, having a very brief flashback of when White bullied a defective Topaz publicly in court before shattering her. Thankfully that painful memory was pushed away by Steven's determined voice. "I have an idea! But we will need Yellow Diamond to help out too." The boy smiled as the idea played out in his mind, and he kept thinking of how it would work. Every positive thing about their current situation came flooding in to his mind. He didn't realize Blue Diamond get up from her throne. "Pearl, send Yellow a message to meet us at the court room." Blue ordered sternly, and the submissive Pearl bowed and responded respectfully. "Yes my Diamond." She quickly got to work on the blue Diamond shaped screen she has summoned in front of her. While she did so, Blue waved her hand like White Diamond had. The wall on the other side of the room split in to two, sliding open and revealing another hallway. "Come, we mustn't waste any time." Blue Diamond said as she put her hands under the her long sleeves and clasped them together. She started to walk slowly, but it was fast enough for Steven since he had to fast-wall in order to keep up with her. Blue Pearl followed her Diamond from a few feet behind, and his Pearl did the same. Steven glanced back at her to make sure she was ok as they left the blue room. The gem smiled at him with a thumbs up, and Steven gave her a smile and a thumbs up as well. He turned back to face forward as he followed Blue Diamond down the hallways, and made their way to the court room they had been in earlier today.

Whilst Steven was spending time with Blue Diamond, Connie, Amethyst and Garnet had been spending time with Yellow Diamond. The Crystal gems huddled up together beneath Yellow's seat, and she looked down at them with a stern glance. Her Pearl was also giving the gems the same stern glance, acting as if she had the higher ground. Connie wasn't sure how to feel about the Yellow Pearl just yet, but her attention was turned back to Yellow. "..S..so you called us here to talk.. right?" The human girl asked nervously, fiddling her hands as she looked up at the tall Diamond. Yellow Pearl remained still and undisturbed by the question while her Diamond took the liberty to answer. "Obviously." She responded in an annoyed tone, tapping the opaque yellow screen in front of her. "Today's meeting didn't go so well.. but White was kind enough to give us permission to un-bubble the Rose Quartz soldiers at the human zoo. And to let the humans there return to Earth, since I'm sure Pink- or.. Steven- wouldn't want the zoo to exist." Yellow Diamond said uneasily as she skimmed through recent logs from Holly Blue Agate from the human zoo. "You will also be sent back to Earth along with those humans, since White deems unnecessary for all of you to be present here." When Yellow said those words, everyone became tense, especially Connie. "W-what?! We can't leave Steven here! He needs us!" She protested, starting to panic internally as she stepped forward. Yellow just glanced down at her, not intrigued by her protest. "Hm." Was all she said as she continued tapping this on her yellow Diamond-shapes screen. "You will all be leaving with my Pearl in about two hours, I must remain here while White cools down.." The Diamond frowned, not even looking at the group as she talked. Connie knew this was helpless, and that they wouldn't have a choice. She turned around to face Garnet and Amethyst as if asking desperately for help. The purple gem shrugged, and Garnet let out a small sigh. Of course, she was a Diamond, nothing could change her mind except.. another Diamond. Steven. Connie turned around to face Yellow Diamond again, this time with a more determined look on her face. "D-Don't you need Steven's permission to send the humans back to Earth? They are technically his subjects.. and the Rose Quartz soldiers!" She shouted, thankful for her clever thinking around this situation. Yellow just chuckled slightly, and replied. "You really think White cares about what Pink wants after everything she's done? There are no exceptions, humans do not belong on Homeworld and must return to Earth." She huffed, saying it so emotionlessly as Connie frowned. "B-but Garnet and Amethyst are gems! At least let them stay!" Connie could feel the anger coming from Yellow Pearl, she hated seeing people and gems go up against her perfect Diamond. Who seemed slightly angry as well. She pinched her fingers on the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes as if dealing with a whining child. Which was exactly what was happening, if this human was considered a child on Earth. "A defective Amethyst and a fusion like her will only be shattered if they stay here any longer! If you want your friends to survive, I suggest you take White's offer before she decides to use you against Pink!" Yellow shouted slightly, sighing before a bright blue box popped up on her yellow screen in front of her. She quickly read through the text inside of it, knowing that this was a message from Blue that seemed urgent. The Crystal gems looked at each other with frowns on their faces as Yellow read the text. After a few silent moments passed, she closed out of her screen and stood up. "Blue wants to meet us in the court room, and... Steven will be there too." Yellow still had a though time calling him Steven. It just didn't make sense to her, since his gem was a Pink Diamond, it was only right to call him Pink. Steven wasn't even a gem name! She didn't know what kind of name it was, but it was always hard to say whilst thinking of Pink. "Come on." Yellow Diamond sighed and started walking across her room, the heavy heels clicking loudly against the yellow tilted floor as she made her way to the hallway outside. Yellow Pearl followed from a few feet behind, with a happy grin on her face. The Crystal gems gave each other a worrying glance before following the Diamond and her Pearl.

When they group arrived at the court room they had been in during that horrible meeting, they were relieved to see Blue and her Pearl, along with Steven and Pearl. Blue was calmly sitting on her throne beside White's huge throne, happy that the huge Diamond wasn't present. Yellow made her way to her own throne as the Crystal gems were reunited. Steven and Pearl stood in the centre of the red carpet covering most of the room, smiling as they ran up to each other. "Connie! Garnet! Amethyst! You're ok!" Steven leapt with joy and embraced his human friend before turning to the other two gems and giving them tight hugs. "Are you ok Steven?" The girl asked as their eyes met, looking at him with concern on her face. The half gem was conflicted as to if he should tell what White tried to do to him, and about the dream he had before waking up in his moms room.. but he chose not to say it, since it would only worry everyone more. He put on a small fake smile, waving his hand up and then down as if dismissing the topic. "Oh don't worry, I was fine! And I have an incredible idea!" His eyes sparkled as he walked back to the centre of the room, looking up at the two Diamonds, eager to say his plan. He brought his fists up to his face determinedly. "I was thinking-" He said as his pupils turned in to stars. "Together we can make a case for Earth!" He said as Blue and Yellow looked at each other as if thinking the same thing. Steven continued to speak, stepping closer to their side of the room. "If White Diamond wont take this seriously, then we have to do something that will make her take it seriously! So I thought about the trial I had when I last came to Homeworld ... there was a case about me, about Rose Quartz, that you couldn't ignore! I wasn't expecting to be standing in front of two Diamonds while my case was being laid out! That's something White can't ignore!" Steven said determinedly, waiting for the taller authorities input. Blue put a hand over her mouth, surprised and also thinking about his idea. "..This could work... White may grow more interested if we make this a case, and let the public speak out their opinions as well.." Blue commented with hope, and looked at Yellow for her response. "If White truly cares about this whole thing, she would attend the trail that would be held. And if she didn't attend, we could still end the trail with some sort of result.." she remembered the private trail Steven had been talking about. White hadn't attended to that one, so Blue and Yellow had to commence and manage it. "When it comes down to a case, it can be resolved if at least one Diamond is present." Yellow sighed, slightly relieved at this idea. "It won't matter if she attends or not, ether way there is a high chance this could end well." She finished speaking her part, glancing down at the beaming, smiling child in front of her. Blue smiled as well, excited about their promising plan. "If the case ends as we planned, White will have to come to Earth to help those other gems. It's a Diamond protocol to follow through with the outcomes of a trail, so if the public cares about the other gems as much as we do, they should be on our side." She said happily, but then Pearl stepped up with a sorrow look on her face. "I'm not sure if-" She was about to continue, but was silenced with Yellow's hand that she extended, signalling for a halt. "Seriously, what did you do to White's Pearl? She's speaking for herself now!" Yellow Diamond rolled her eyes, putting her hand back down as she crossed her arms. Pearl blushed a shade of blue, looking down full of embarrassment as she took a small step back. Steven turned around to look at Pearl, getting to understand that she probably needs his permission to do anything whilst in front of the Diamonds and the Homeworld gems. "Uh.. Pearl, I want to know your opinion!" He tried to sound like his mother, remembering to say 'want' instead of 'would like' or adding a please to the end of his sentence. The Pearl gave him a thankful smile, and spoke. "I.. haven been in many of White's trails to see the strings she will pull to make a fool out of the guilty gems... She likes to- play around with them until she gets what she wants. And Steven- gems don't need sleep. This trail could go on for days! Since once a public trail starts, there is no coming out of that room until there is a solid answer.." She met his gaze, worried that Steven nor Connie would be able to be putting up with White Diamond for more then an hour. "She can be.. irrational and pull things up her sleeve to use against you. I'm not sure if your ready for that kind of pressure Steven.." She gently put a hand on her shoulder as Steven turned around to face her. Yellow Pearl glanced at her jealously, not knowing why she was able to do that with her Pink Diamond without getting in trouble. The half gem however, didn't have the slightest hint of fear in his eyes. "Pearl, I know I'm not ready. But we really don't have a choice! We need White Diamond to come to Earth and heal the corrupted gems! It's what you've been working towards for years! I can't throw away this chance just because I'm not ready. Thousands of gems are counting on me! Earth is counting on me! The whole planet will be a more peaceful place with no more corrupted gems!" Steven exclaimed, knowing that Pearl knew this was the only way. The pale gem seemed conflicted, maybe even sad, but what Steven was saying is true.

"Oh by the stars I forgot to mention this!" Blue said as she suddenly seemed to perk up at her ability to remember an important piece of information. "White had granted us permission to restore all the Rose Quartz soldiers bubbles in the human zoo facility. And she's also dissembling the humans in the zoo, and sending them back to Earth! I.. hope your ok with that." Blue looked down at Steven, who quickly smiled. "That's amazing! Of course I'm ok with that!" He shouted full of hope. "It's a good start for White Diamond! Sure maybe her intentions weren't good.. but seeing the humans and Rose Quartz soldiers free is going to be a great thing for all of us!" He was so relived to hear some good news for once, and this small flicker of hope was enough to get him fired up for the trail and the case to protect Earth and save the corrupted gems.

Then Garnet walked over to Steven, kneeling down and putting a making her reflective glasses disappear. She had a look of sorrow and concern in all her three eyes. "Steven- White Diamond wants to send me, Amethyst and Connie back to Earth along with the humans in the human zoo. I don't see any possibilities around this, and I know it's something that is inevitable. I want you to know that even if we aren't here with you, we will still be rooting for you on Earth." She smiled lightly, and Steven didn't know how to react. He felt less-stable knowing that most of his friends weren't going to be in the trail with him.. but he had Blue, Yellow, and Pearl! It was probably for the best anyway. He wanted more than anything for Connie to be safe, and he knew if Garnet stayed, it would be so hard for her to remained fused while being so close to the Diamonds. And Amethyst- "Yeah I was getting kind of creeped out by this place anyway! I miss my room, and all the food!" She chuckled as she walked over to Steven and Garnet along with Connie. The boy smiled back at her, glad that she was on the same page as Garnet. "Steven-" It was Connie's voice. She held his hand and looked at him, sad but also hopeful that he would succeed. The half gem couldn't help but blush slightly at the contact and look she was giving him. "I know you can do this. And I'll be making sure the humans from the zoo find their place on Earth! But.. there is one thing I need to ask.." She frowned. "White Diamond's Pearl- or Pink Diamond's Pearl- something seems wrong about her. I was talking to her earlier, and saw her cry. She needs help, and I was thinking maybe you could heal her? If White Diamond did that to her, I know you can undo the damage since you're a Diamond too! I know it might be too much to ask since your plate is already full of other huge things... but..Could you help her..? For me?" The human smiled lightly, giving his hand a slight squeeze as Steven's blush intensified. He looked in to her eyes, shaking off the blush and nodding. "I'll do it. I'll help her. Any maybe- she can come back to Earth with us! We would have two Pearls-" He chuckled, and saw Pearl roll her eyes teasingly from the corner of his eye.

Whilst the Crystal Gems were saying their farewells, Blue and Yellow had been arranging the trail date on their thin-opaque screens that magically appeared in front of them. "Alright, the date is set." Yellow Diamond said as she looked down at Steven. "Two days from today, at noon."


	6. Chapter 6

The Voice of Pearl

 _Chapter Six_

"Two days? Hm.. That should give us enough time to warm up to White Diamond!" Steven said with a determined smile on his face, whilst everyone else in the large court room looked confused and lost. Yellow Diamond cleared her throat before speaking in her loud, booming voice. "Warm up? Don't be so ridiculous! It's been eons, and no one in the whole galaxy has been able to 'warm up' to White." She rolled her yellow eyes and crossed her arms, sighing as if listening to a very annoying sound. "Wait Yellow.." Blue Diamond put her hand up slightly to silence her and speak to Steven. "What do you have in mind?" She asked the small half gem standing in-front of her with nothing but hope shinning in his eyes. "Well, I was thinking we could throw a party! A family get-together party! It will be fun!" Steven seemed excited about the plan he head just announced, but no one else did. Even Yellow and Blue Pearl gave each other a weird look before Yellow Pearl pitched in. "..What is.. fuu-n?" She asked Steven, completely pronouncing the foreign word incorrectly, and weirdly.

"Fun is like- When every one is happy and enjoying what they are doing!" Steven tried to explain it to the Yellow Pearl, who didn't seem amused at all. "Hm." Was all she said, and now Steven was more determined than ever to get her in particular to understand what fun was. He took a small step closer to her, and the yellow pupils in Pearl's eyes followed him. "What do you like to do?" The boy asked and looked up at Yellow Pearl, who worryingly glanced up at her Diamond and started to feel nervous. She quickly turned her attention back to Steven, who was still waiting for an answer. "I..I like serving my luminous Yellow Diamond!" She purred with a dark shade of yellow growing on her cheeks, which was clearly a blush. "No no- Let me rephrase that. What makes you happy?" He asked again, and Yellow Pearl started to become uncomfortable and sweat slightly. "..uh.. I am happy as long as my Diamond is happy." She responded whilst knowing that was probably not the answer Steven wanted to hear. The boy sighed and scratched the back of his head. "This.. may take some time.." He chuckled uneasily before he felt a hand on his shoulder, so he turned around to see who it was, and it was Pearl. "Steven, your enthusiasm is.. nice, but nobody on Homeworld knows what a party is. We don't even know if White would come! I think we should just keep our distance until the trial." The pale gem finished, and a frown formed on Steven's face.

"Hey I think its a good idea!" Amethyst smiled at Steven, crossing her arms and giving him a determined look. "If I was White Diamond, I'd totally come to a royal party and dance till I poof!" She laughed, and was able to make Steven smile. "..You really think so?" He asked for reassurance, and Amethyst nodded. "Yeah! If you can get her to have a really good time, maybe her temper will cool down too." The purple gem shrugged as if it was nothing, but in Steven's mind she was completely right. "Ok, we are going to throw a party!" He smiled briefly, before realizing the harsh truth. " But- you guys have to leave.." His frown returned as he looked at Amethyst, Connie and Garnet.

"If we stay, we'll only be making White Diamond upset." Garnet was the one to respond this time, in her cold, but somewhat sad tone. "The Diamonds are right. Homeworld is no place for us." The fusion added on as she clenched her fists. She hated this idea, but would White Diamond really be able to have fun if a defect, different gem fusion, and a human were at the party? The three of them could ruin Steven's only chance, and endanger everyone including themselves if White's temper went out of control.

"Alright enough chatting." Yellow Diamond stood up from her throne, looking down at her Pearl. "Take them to the human zoo. I will let the Agate know of your arrival at the zoo." She said to the Crystal Gems and her Pearl, who saluted so elegantly. "Yes my Diamond!" The Pearl smiled as her Diamond left the room, since she had business to attend to. Then Blue Diamond stood up, motioning for her own Pearl to follow her. "Come back as soon as you can, ok Pink?" Blue said in a motherly tone, and Pearl didn't like it. "Don't worry! I'll be back before you know it!" The boy responded with a friendly smile, and Blue Diamond left the court room with her Pearl, leaving Steven, Pearl, Garnet, Connie and Amethyst with Yellow Pearl. "Right this way." Yellow Pearl said as she stood by a pair of open doors on the far side of the court room behind the Crystal Gems. She bowed slightly as Steven walked passed her, and gave Pearl an annoyed look as she walked so closely to her Diamond, showing no decency what so ever. Yellow Pearl sighed when every one walked through the door, closing them as she walked behind the group. "The docking bay will be down the hall to the left." She said clearly so everyone could hear her.

Most of the walk to the docking bay was silent, but thankfully they arrived quickly. The Crystal gem boarded a pod that looked very similar to the Ruby's ship, except the outside was yellow and bigger since it was made for Yellow Diamond. Once every one boarded, the door's hissed and closed. Yellow Pearl stood in front of a desk-like panel, putting her hand right through the holographic surface as her eyes switched to looking like a static T.V screen. Steven noticed the layout of this ship was very different from the Ruby's ship. There were luxurious yellow couch-like chairs all around the room, and only one control panel enough for a single pilot. The Crystal Gems subconsciously took a seat in the yellow chairs, while Yellow Pearl piloted the ship smoothly, nobody even felt a thing as they looked out the large glass window in front of where Yellow Pearl was standing. The pink sky of Homeworld became the dark space, and then space became a blur of lights as the light-travel began. Steven was actually happy to have his friends right by his side this time whilst bending the very fabric of time and space. "Isn't it cool?" The boy tried to lighten the mood as he looked out the huge window. Connie nodded in awe, also looking out at the colorful view. "Yeah.. I'll probably never experience this ever again, so might as well make the most of it!" She then swung her bag down and dug her hands through the contents inside. "Steven, let's take a selfie in front of the window! I need to take at least one picture to show my mom and dad when I get back." Connie chuckled and pulled out her phone and attempted to turn it on, but the screen remained black and blank. "..Thats weird.. I charged it before we left.." The human said as she tried again, but it still didn't work.

"Maybe it has something to do with the bending-reality thing!" Amethyst said whilst laying on one of the yellow chairs with her eyes closed. "Actually-" Pearl corrected her. "The ship's system is interfering with Connie's Cell phone, because it's using a lot of energy when it is in light speed. So your phone is in fact on, but there is a delay while we are moving through and bending the fabric of time and space, and since your cell phone screen projects light in order to work- that light is being dragged along by this ship probably just outside those doors!" Pearl pointed to the hatch they had came through on the other side of the ship. "You just can't see the screen, since the speed of light is manipulating your cell phone's light. So once we are out of light speed, your cell phone should work just fine!" Pearl smiled triumphantly, while the two kids looked at each other slightly puzzled, but pretended to under stand most of what Pearl had said. "Cool." Connie commented and put her phone away in her bag. "I guess we will just have to wait to take a selfie then."

As soon as the ship dropped out of light speed, they arrived in front of the pink human zoo. Yellow Pearl had docked the ship in the same area the Crystal Gems had when they came to save Steven's dad. When all the engines were off, Yellow Pearl opened the door with her hand flat on a pannel. "Blue Diamond's agate should be waiting for you outside." She said as she remained standing beside the control panel, her eyes were now back to normal. Steven was about to follow everyone else out the ship, but turned around and looked at Yellow Pearl. "Aren't you coming?" He asked the Pearl, who seemed taken back at the odd question. "My presence isn't required." She said professionally, but Steven ran back towards her and took her hand. "I would like your presence! It's better than you being in here all alone. Come on!" He smiled and guided the Yellow Pearl out of the ship, holding her hand and dragging her along as she stumbled. The Pearl's cheeks turned in to a darker shade of yellow, since she wasn't accustomed to this kind of behavior.. but it felt nice.

"Steven- what took you so long?" Pearl asked him as he caught up, but quickly realized the Yellow Pearl beside him. "Oh.. Well- Holly Blue is waiting for you." Pearl stepped aside, and Steven walked up to the front, still holding Yellow Pearl's hand. The Crystal gems followed from behind and walked up to the buff Amethyst guards in front of the door way. They said nothing, but did give Amethyst a friendly smile before going back to their poker faces as soon as they heard the clicking of heels walk up behind and past them. Holly Blue clasped her hands together and looked down at Steven. "Welcome back my radiant Diamond! It's a pleasure to have you here!" She said uncomfortably as she noticed the weird 'form' of Pink Diamond in front of her. "Oh no, Im Steven! We're just here to get all the humans and my friends back to Earth." Steven said light heartedly as Holly Blue looked over at the deadly Crystal Gems behind him. She recognized them, and then recognized Steven as the human and started to panic internally. Sweat trickled down her forehead and she turned around and started walking down the hall. "Right this way my Diamond! All the humans have been loaded on the ship, and as soon as your friends are aboard we can send them all to Earth just how Yellow Diamond instructed!" Holly Blue said so uneasily, growing more and more uncomfortable at every single gem walking behind her. She dared not to turn around and look at any of them, but rather tried to ignore the fact that she had attacked all of them and threw her Diamond in her own zoo. The whole walk there was very awkward, but there had been one question bouncing around in Yellow Pearl's head. She just had to ask- "Why was my presence required..?" She glanced down at the boy holding her hand, smiling up at her as he spoke. "Because you're my friend, and friends stick together! Isn't this more fun then waiting around all alone on that ship?" He seemed happy that he was finally getting through to at least one of the Homeworld gems, especially another Pearl. Yellow Pearl blushed and looked away, mumbling slightly. "I guess this is.. fu-un.." She once again said the unfamiliar word awkwardly, but it was an improvement from the first time she had said it.

"We are here my Diamond!" Holly Blue said as she stopped in front of a door, and the other side was a narrow hallway leading to the open gates of the ship. Every one stopped in front of the door, frowning slightly as Connie, Amethyst and Garnet separated themselves from Pearl, Yellow Pearl and Steven. "I guess this is good bye.." Connie said to Steven, who let go of Yellow Pearl's hand and hugged her tightly. "Its not a good bye, it's a see-you-later!" Steven chuckled and the two embraced for a little longer before parting. Next Garnet walked up to Steven, kneeling down on one knee and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I believe in you Steven, I know you can do this." Garnet smiled, and Steven blushed slightly and shrugged. "I'll defiantly try!" He said as Garnet shook her head. "You will." She said before standing up and stepping away, looking over at Pearl. "Bring him back safely." The fusion said as Pearl nodded. Them Amethyst ran up to Steven and gave him a bear hug, lifting him off the floor a bit before putting him down. "You better come back Steven! Or i'll.. eat all of your Chaaps!" Amethyst smiled teasingly and the two laughed. "I can't have that happen!" He responded also teasingly, and Amethyst glanced over at the two Pearl's standing side by side behind Steven. "Good luck with having two Pearls chasing your tail-" She laughed as Pearl blushed blue and crossed her arms, "Hmph!" She said quietly and looked away from Amethyst. "See ya!" She said before they all waved and walked in to the ship, leaving Steven and the Pearls. The three of them watched as the ship detached itself from the human zoo, and disappeared within seconds.

"I will go and prepare the ship for the Rose Quartz soldiers." Yellow Pearl said to Steven and walked away, since Yellow Diamond had instructed her to use a different ship for the Rose' Quartz soldiers because they were being sent elsewhere on Homeworld to be 'rehabilitated' after thousands of years being in bubbles. "This way my Diamond." Holly Blue said as she once again, started walking down the hallway. Her heels clicked with each step, and echoed around the very silent halls of the zoo. During the walk, Steven couldn't help but feel like he just lost a huge piece of himself. He had a glum frown on his face and was looking down. Pearl seemed to notice, but remained silent and continued walking. "Pearl?" As if on cue, Steven looked up at her and asked. "Why did the Diamonds send Connie, Garnet and Amethyst back to Earth, but allowed you to stay with me?" The boy asked so curiously, and Pearl sighed, smiling as best could as she spoke. "Steven, I'm only here because I'm carrying your things!" She tried so sound happy as her gem glowed and she summoned his hotdog bag, holding it proudly before suddenly looking away, annoyed. "And… they consider me one of your things.." She said unhappily as Steven gave her an uneasey look. "Yeesh.." He commented and continued to walk down the hallway until they reach the bubble room, as Steven decided to call it. "I'll wait out here my Diamond." Holly Blue said as she stood by the door, so the boy walked in, only to realize Pearl was standing by the door way far behind him. "Pearl, whats wrong?" He frowned and walked back over to her. The pale gem sighed, glancing up at all the bubbles in the room with sad eyes. "I think I should wait here.." She said with the slightest blush on her cheeks, holding the handle of the hot dog bag tightly. "Your scared, right?" Steven blurted it out loud, and continued. "I'm scared too. All of these Rose Quartz soldiers were poofed and bubbled away because of mom.. and I know I'll be reminded of her when these Rose Quarts soldiers reform.. And you will be reminded of her too. It's not going to be easy, but they don't deserve to be bubbled any longer! Mom wasn't even a Rose Quartz- and it's hard to accept that, but it's the truth. P-Pearl- I.. I can't do this on my own.." He frowned briefly before smiling at her lightly. "Literally. I really can't pop all of these bubbles on my own." He said as Pearl smiled back. "Yeah.. you're right. Let's do this."


	7. Chapter 7

"The vibration and sound of my spear hitting your shield should be enough to pop all of the bubbles in this room. If it's not, then we will have to think of another quick way to do this.." Pearl pondered as she stood in the centre of the large pink room, looking up at all the bubbled Rose Quartz gem's. Steven stood beside her, summoning his shield with a determined look on his face. "Ok, let's try!" He said as he ran a couple feet away from Pearl, holding his shield up in front of him. The other gem frowned slightly as she summoned her spear and gave it a couple spins before firmly gripping it in her hand. "Ready?" She asked, shouting slightly as her voice bounced around the room and echoed. The boy in front of her nodded, bracing himself with his opaque shield. "I'm ready!" He smiled, and watched as Pearl lifted her arm and threw her spear so perfectly. It hit right in the centre of Steven's shield, making him shake a bit as the loud sound and vibration also echoed throughout the room. Thankfully, Pearl's idea went well. Every single bubble in the room shook and popped, disrupted by the act of a powerful shield meeting a powerful spear. All the gems above them glowed a bright white, doll-like bodies forming around the gems as they slowly took on their forms in more detail.

"STEVEN LOOK OUT!" Pearl shouted as she jumped, grabbing Steven and skidding to the side of the room as hundreds of Rose Quartz soldiers fell to the ground. One of them landed exactly where Steven had been standing a few minutes ago. However, both of the gems were too shocked as they watched all the Rose Quartz's reform. They all had pink bubble gum hair, most of them were curly while some of them were straight or puffy. They had peach pink skin, very similar to human skin except had a bit more of a pink tint to it. The big luscious pink lips, shinning pink gems and buff body shape reminded Pearl and Steven too much about Rose. Although one thing was very different; their height. Real Rose Quartz soldiers were about the same size as an average Amethyst. Even their personalities were like Amethyst, playful and rough, always accepting any challenges. The more Steven looked around at the other Rose Quartz's, the more he started to realise how different they were from his mother. Sure they may look similar, but if you pay more attention they were defiantly different.

"I need to get their attention." Steven said to Pearl as a thousand voices filled the room. Everyone was confused, but also happy. They didn't even notice Steven sneaking around and climbing up to a tall perch above them all. Once Steven was at the top, he stood tall and shouted loudly. "HEY GUYS!" He waved his arms around, and the room went silent as everyone's eyes fell on Steven. "I know you are all confused, and have a lot of questions- but first we need to get all of you back to Homeworld!" Steven shouted again, getting nervous when no one said a thing or moved an inch. He tried to remember what Pearl had told him earlier about the location of the ship that would take the Rose Quartz's back to Homeworld. "Just past these doors-" Steven pointed to a different set of doors, which were wide open on the right side of the room. "Is a ship that will take you back to Homeworld! So.. please get on the ship!" Steven smiled, still nervous as small voices broke out through the room. He was finally relieved to see all the soldiers walking towards and through the doors, sighing of relief as he climbed his way back down.

Pearl stood tensely as the soldiers walked by her, none of them gave ether a glance or even a smile and walked right past her. One of the soldiers however, bumped in to her in the rush to get out. "Watch it you clod!" The soldier mumbled, almost seeming disgusted by looking at Pearl, but the pale gem looked away, trying to ignore her. That just seemed to agitate the Rose Quartz. "Aren't you going to apologise Pearl?" The soldier stopped and moved closer to her, and Pearl could feel the anger and dominance radiating from her. Pearl thought; 'She may look like Rose, but she isn't Rose. Rose wasn't even Rose. This needs to stop!' The pale gem clenched her fist and gripped her spear tighter, meeting the soldier's eyes. "You bumped in to me. I don't see the need to apologise." She said sternly, resisting the urge to grin and be more salty towards the soldier. The Rose Quartz clenched her fists and stepped forward as if to punch her. "Why you little—" She was about to punch her, when another Rose Quartz with short hair stoped her. "It's not worth it. She's a Pearl, you know you can beat her." She said to the angry Quartz, who just laughed. "Hey don't worry! I'll heal her when I'm done!" She said as she tried to step closer to Pearl again, but once again, the short haired one stopped her. "I wouldn't- isn't she White Diamond's Pearl? The one that she gave to our Diamond for the Earth mission?" She said as the Rose Quartz lowered her fist and sighed. "Wouldn't want to damage someone's little toy." With that, she turned around and left. Pearl felt her heart racing out of her chest, just seeing someone who looked like Rose act like that towards her- was difficult, but she pulled through and stood up for herself. Pearl smiled triumphantly and made her spear disappear. When the room was quiet and all the Rose Quartz Soldiers were on their way to the ship, Steven ran across the tilted floor and made his way to Pearl.

"Are you ok?! I wanted to run over to you- but there were too many of them blocking my way!" Steven said worryingly, and Pearl just pat him on the head. "I'm fine Steven. Come on, you need to eat and get some rest. Don't forget that you're still half human!" She chuckled and walked out of the room with him, and the two made their way back to their own ship.

Yellow Pearl had already set the Rose Quartz ship to travel to Homeworld and land sadly. She was now standing in their ship, waiting patiently with her hands together and back straight. When Steven and Pearl walked in, the ship doors behind them locked shut. The two of them took a seat on one of the long yellow chairs that looked more like a couch. They looked out the large window as Yellow Pearl piloted the ship back to Homeworld.

During their short voyage Pearl couldn't help but notice Steven looking miserable, and this time she couldn't stay silent. "Are you ok?" She asked him in a motherly tone, looking down at him with sorrow eyes. The boy sighed, fiddling with his hands. "I.. I think I'm home sick. I already miss my friends, and I miss my dad.." He said as his eyes started to water. "..Oh Steven.." Pearl gently put an arm around him, pulling him close for a hug. "We should only be here for two more days if the trail goes well and ends within the same day. And I'll be with you the whole time..." Pearl reassured him and gave him a slight squeeze, and the comfort seemed to be helping a lot. "I just.. wish there was a way I could talk to my dad.. I miss him. We all left in a hurry, and I know he's worried about me and I just want to let him know that I'm ok.." Steven looked up at Pearl to meet her eyes. "Do you think.. dad might be freaking out?" He asked as he remembered the time he had escaped Peridot's ship, and how his dad was defiantly freaking out. But Pearl just smiled lightly, and spoke in a calming voice. "I'm sure Greg is ok. He's.. grown a lot since your first encounter with a Homeworld gem. And remember that Amethyst, Connie and Garnet are going back to Earth. I'm sure they will tell him all about what has happened so far.." She paused and thought for a moment, thinking about all the events that had happened so far. White Diamond was still angry, Steven was traumatised, his friends were all sent home, and now he's going on trail with a case for Earth. Nothing good has happened yet, but Pearl was hopeful that that would change. "Um.. what I'm trying to say is, your fathers stronger than he seems, and I'm sure he can handle whatever information Garnet, Connie or Amethyst gives him." She said with a slight tint of blue on her cheeks, which quickly faded unnoticed. Steven seemed to calm down a little when he heard those words, but it still didn't change the fact that he missed him. "Do you miss anyone?" Steven asked Pearl, who nodded. "Of course! I miss Bismuth, Garnet, Amethyst, Connie, Peridot and Lapis- even Greg. I miss Earth too, but we need to stay focused on our task. We need White Diamond to help us cure all those corrupted gems on Earth." Pearl said sternly like a teacher, and Steven nodded. "I know.. Well- as long as your here, I think I can do this!" The boy suddenly seemed so cheerful, which made Pearl happy. "We can do this." Pearl corrected him with a smile.

Once they were back on Homeworld, Steven and Pearl went back to Pink's room. The half gem had checked his phone, and it was eleven pm back on Earth for him. He hadn't had lunch or dinner, and desperately needed sleep. However, a part of him feared going to sleep. He didn't want to have that horrible dream again, and so he decided to eat something instead. Steven walked over to his pink little bed and sat down on it as Pearl summoned the hot dog duffle bag and handed it to Steven. "There should be a lot of snacks packed in there, but try and eat something healthy too ok?" Pearl asked as the boy nodded, and pulled out one of the brown lunch bags that had a sand which, chaaps and a battered up donut in a plastic bag. He put the duffle bag on the floor and started to eat the sandwich. Pearl sat down next to him on the bed, thinking about what she could do while he slept. Usually she had something to do like cleaning or laundry.

"Pearl, remember when you said about missing every one- you mentioned my dad. Do you still.. not like him because of what happened to mom..?" He asked as he took another bite out of the sandwhich. The pale gem just smiled genuinely. "I used to blame him for your mother's disappearance.. But I was finally able to accept that it wasn't his fault, and that it was Rose's choice to make." She pat Steven on the head. "And Rose made the right choice, even if at the time it was painful for me. You were born, I was able to do things for myself, and so many good things wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you. Like Empire City.." She blushed slightly at the memory. "I didn't realise how much me and Greg had in common, like how we both love music and vehicle engendering. He's one of the very few human friends I have, and I defiantly have learned to appreciate his company more." The gem said with a smile, and Steven finished his sandwich. "Maybe a little more than I had expected... We always end up having long conversations about you." She chuckled, and then saw that Steven was looking at her suspiciously. She blushed and waved her hands in front of her. "Good things!! No bad things!! Good things only!!" She defended her actions, which were true, but she knew most of the conversations she had with Greg was about silly things or embarrassing stories about Steven. "You know I can never say anything bad about you.." Her panic and blush faded as she smiled at the boy, who smiled back. "Yeah, I am pretty awesome!" He grinned and teased, making Pearl laugh a little. "Yes indeed you are!" She finished laughing, and Steven started on his bag of chaaps. "When we get back, we should go to Empire City again! And maybe this time we can have even more fun now that you and dad are friends!" Steven said as he remembered all the dancing, singing and fancy things at the hotel.

"I would defiantly like to go back again once this is all over! That place was nearly as glorious as the sea spire before it turned in to nothing." She smiled at the memory of the hotel. The gem kept on feeling all warm and fuzzy inside when she remembered the song Steven had sung to them. It was so sweet, so emotional, and really opened her eyes. She then clasped her hands and sat up straight, looking at Steven. "Well I think it's about time you get some rest." She said as she stood up, and Steven had now finished the chaaps and was eating the donut. "Can I just finish this?" He asked with sparkling eyes. "Pleaaasee?" Steven knew Pearl could never- well, most of the time, couldn't resist his pleading. She chuckled and nodded. "Alright. I would tell you to brush your teeth too- but there aren't exactly any sinks around here.." She sighed and watched as Steven finished his donut and lay down on his bed. Pearl walked up to the bed and put the blanket over him. "Good night Pearl." He said with a yawn.

"Wait Steven- I have a little surprise for you." She put her hands in front of her gem and closed her eyes as it glowed. She summoned something bright, and when the light disappeared a purple bear with sunglasses fell in her hands. Steven's pupils turned in to stars as he reached out his hands. "MC Bear Bear!!" He said happily as Pearl gave him the bear, and he hugged it tightly. "Thank you Pearl!" The boy held the bear close to him, closing his eyes. "I thought you might like that." She said as she then summoned a pillow for herself and tossed it on the floor beside Steven's bed. "I might try and sleep as well, and maybe this time I'll have a good dream about Greg." She shrugged, but blushed when she realised what she had said. "I-I mean like- one where he's not pretending to be Rose and throwing up pizza!! T-that's what I meant!" Pearl said in a panic, but realised Steven was already sleeping. She sighed of relief, smiling at him lovingly before laying down on the floor and resting her head on the pillow. "Good night Steven." Pearl closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

In the 'morning' Steven was the first to wake up, sitting up in the soft bed and raising his arms above his head for a good stretch. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, glancing down at the gem beside his bed. She was laying on the floor on her back, resting her head on a pillow as she slept. She was also dreaming, and unfortunately for Pearl, her dreams were projected from her gem. Steven watched the blue screen above Pearl, a scene was playing out. It was all from Pearl's perspective this time.

White Diamond was standing in front of Pearl, and in between their distance was a shaking Emerald. She looked quite similar to the one that Lars had been fighting, and maybe he still is. Steven watched as White chuckled, looking down at the terrified Emerald. "Go on my Pearl. Shatter her." The creepy Diamond said in such a happy tone. Pearl seemed confused and lost, then realised she had something in her hand. She lifted her hand, holding up a silver shinning sword that illuminated her reflection. Steven's eyes widened when he noticed how different his Pearl looked. Her eyes were grey, her hair was a lighter shade of grey and more pointy then her current hair style. She was wearing a sparkling uniform in different shades of grey with some black and white in it. The style was very similar to how Yellow and Blue Pearl's uniform was, except just like White Diamond, Pearl had a sparkling black cape behind her back. In the dream, Pearl's eyes also widened as she looked at herself. She dropped the sword quickly and stepped back, shaking at the reflection she just saw. White Diamond laughed, which died down to a little chuckle before she spoke. "What's wrong my little executioner? Did you forget how to shatter gems? Here, why don't I remind you?" White Diamond said as the silver sword suddenly appeared back in Pearl's hand. "I don't want to!" Pearl shouted at the Diamond, tears in her eyes. "I'm not like that anymore-" She protested, but the Diamond seemed unamused. "You shattered millions of gems for me in the past, what's stopping you now? Do you know this Emerald committed treason? Hm?" She teased, a flash of multiple clips whizzed by Pearl's vision. Memories of her shattering gems without question with a cold heart. "S-shattering is wrong!" Pearl stuttered, starting to shake herself.

"Then why are you doing it?" White Diamond asked, and it was then that Pearl realised she had raised the sword, using both hands to grip it tightly as she swung it down. Inches before it hit the Emerald's gem, the dream ended.

The blue hologram disappeared and Pearl jolted up with tears streaming down her face and a hand over her mouth. She was shaking, her pupils small from fear as she moved her hand and tried to wipe the tears away. The gem them noticed Steven, sitting on his bed and staring at her with a worried expression on his face. "S-Steven! Y-you're awake!" She smiled hesitantly, managing to get her tears to stop flowing out of her eyes. The boy frowned, not sure if he should bring up the dream at all since it seemed to be hurting Pearl a lot. But at the same time, he had just found out his motherly figure used to shatter gems to please White Diamond. He didn't know how to feel, but knew that he wanted Pearl to feel better. "Are you ok Pearl..?" He asked and put MC bear bear down on the bed, swinging his legs off the side. The pale gem kept her smile and nodded. "Yes I'm fine. I just had a bad dream, that's all.." She sniffed, managing to get all those emotions out of her system for Steven.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked the boy, who nodded. "Yep! Like a baby!" He seemed happy when Pearl chuckled along with him as she put her pillow away back in her gem. "That's good! You will need all of your energy to plan this.. Diamond Party out." Pearl said as she got up and stretched. The boy nodded in anticipation and hopped off the bed, making his way towards the centre of the pink room. "Well first, we need to make invitations!" Steven said with a smile, surprised to see his gem glow brightly as the floor in front of him separated. The Diamond-Desk rose from the ground along with the chair. He jumped in excitement as they desk and chair went still. Meanwhile Pearl had made Steven's bed, and put his bear away in the hot dog duffle bag as she zipped it up and swung it over her shoulder. "You did it!" Pearl said in a proud tone as she walked over to stand beside Steven's chair. "Yeah! Now I just need to turn it on.." He mumbled to himself, and tried to figure it out.

Just then, a loud chime was heard through out the room. The desk and chair started to descend back under the floor, and the startled boy was able to get off the chair in time as he backed away. "P-Pearl what's that noise?" He asked and looked up at her as the melodic noise went on repeat. "..The Diamond chime... it's Yellow.." She said with a frown as the melody stopped, and was replaced by a sudden hissing noise from behind them. The pink wall had become a triangular door, and opened. This was new, and Pearl barley noticed since it blended in to the wall so well. When the doors were out of the way, Yellow Pearl stood there. She did the Diamond solute and bowed her head while speaking clearly. "Pink Diamond, my Diamond has requested your presence in the Extraction chamber." She said as she straightened her back. "Please, follow me." The Yellow Pearl said as she turned around and started walking down the narrow hallway. Pearl and Steven both looked at each other, anxious and slightly surprised but they followed anyway. "That door wasn't there before.. unless.. Pink kept it a secret.." Pearl said quietly as she walked beside Steven with a worried look on her face. "It's ok Pearl, everything is new here." He gulped. "..d-do you know what an Extraction Chamber is..?" Steven asked nervously, scared and hesitant on following Yellow Pearl any further. Pearl just sighed, the frown still on her face. "..I've heard it before but.. never been in one. Only Diamonds are allowed in Extraction chambers, but I'm guessing it's some sort of sacred place for them." Pearl replied, holding Stevens hand. "It will be ok. Yellow wouldn't hurt you." She reassured him, and he held her hand tightly. "You'll be there with me- right..?" He asked and looked up at her.

"..I..I don't know.." Pearl looked away, knowing that she would most likely not be able to follow him in to the room.

The two Pearls and Steven walked for about ten minutes before approaching two huge yellow doors guarded by two Topaz guards on each side. They stared blankly at the space in front as if looking right through all of them. The three stopped a few feet from the doors before Yellow Pearl turned around and spoke. "Pink Diamond, my Diamond awaits you." She said as she stepped over to the side, giving Pearl a glance as if telling her to do the same. She sighed and stepped to the side as well, standing next to the Yellow Pearl. "I've been here before!" Steven's fear faded as he recognised the doors and area he was in. Pearl smiled slightly when she saw him be more cheerful then earlier. It always gave her a spark of hope whenever he seemed positive about any situation.

He took a deep breath and held his head up high before gently pushing open one of the doors enough so that he could slip through. Once he was in the room and the door closed behind him, he knew what was coming. With a flash of light and a hum of machinery surrounding him, he closed his eyes shut tight. He could feel the steam emitting towards him as he opened his eyes. He stood on a tall perch, wearing yellow pants. The half gem sighed, but at least it wasn't his mom's uniform anymore.

The room he was in was once again, huge and shining. Everything was polished yellow and droplets of water shimmered along the statutes that stood along the walls, flowing water from above them. Yellow Diamond sat on a huge yellow surface like a flat bench, leaning forward with a sigh. She usually came here to relive stress and also to keep her gem healthy. It helped, but wouldn't help the situation they were in. She glared at Steven with her diamond-yellow eyes, giving him the stern look she always gave everyone.

"We have two days, and I want to know how you are going to pull this off!" Yellow said in an annoyed tone, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose as she impatiently waited for Steven's reply. The boy looked away nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Well.. First I was going to make invitations and send them out to everyone! Then we can start decorating the best room in this palace, and make sure to include everything White Diamond likes! Do.. do you happen to know what she likes?" Steven answered with another question as the Diamond leaned back, letting the fountain of water flow on her shoulders. "That's your plan?" She let out a long sigh. "White doesn't like anything except seeing her own success. But then again, she's never pleased with anything for too long." Yellow rapped her foot on the floor, putting her hand under her chin. "Maybe you could give her a planet or another Pearl- since you did take her Pearl. I'm sure she would appreciate that." The Diamond seemed certain of this, but there was no way Steven was giving an entire planet or Pearl to White Diamond. He would have to improvise.

"I bet she's never had food! We can get her to try new things and she might like them! Like dancing, playing party games and wearing funny hats!" He said with a smile, but quickly realised the last part was impossible. "..uh.. scratch the hats idea. Lets just combine a lot of fun things! She's bound to like one of them!" Steven said positively as he took a small step forward. Yellow crossed her arms. "Fine. If you need any help the pebbles should assist you." Yellow pulled up a opaque diamond-shaped screen and tapped a few things on it. Steven seemed confused at to what she meant by pebbles.

"What are the pebbles?" He asked as Yellow froze, wanting to face palm but keeping herself neutral. "The pebbles are a community of.. rocks, that help out with small tasks that require a lot of work around the Diamond Palace. For example, these statues were made by them." Yellow waved her hand and gestured to the statues behind her. "They are small, but make up for it in numbers. I suggest you go to them immediately if you really want this plan of yours to work." Yellow Diamond said as she clapped her hands, and the water all around them stopped flowing. "Remember, the Earth and my soldiers are counting on you."


	8. Chapter 8

The Voice of Pearl

 _Chapter Eight_

Steven's eyes sparkled as he watched the little grey pebbles hop out of little holes in the pink walls of his room, while some even emerged from the glossy floor. Everyone of them were so small and so different, unique in their own way. Each one wore different colours of simple clothing, with a round pebble on some part of their body. Steven thought it must be their gem, but in this case- pebble. The little beings also came in two genders, and had the ability to change their hands just like Bismuth.

"You guys are so cute!" The boy knelt down on the floor and cupped his hands, lowering them to let some of the pebbles walk on to his palms. Once three pebbles were on his hands, he lifted them up to his eye level with a smile. "So.. you guys are going to help me make this party the best party ever?" Steven asked, and the three pebbles in his hands smiled whilst nodding.

Pearl then stepped forward, carful not to step on any of the pebbles. "Your mother gave them life with her tears.. it was an amazing gift she used on everything she could! Like the walls you saw when we were walking to Yellow's Extraction Chamber. They were gold ingots, given life by Pink! Oh it was truly amazing.." Pearl said that last part in a dreamy tone with a slight blue blush on her face. Steven looked back at the pebbles after listening to Pearl, and now had a completely new thought in his mind. "Mom made them- but now I have her gem.. I guess you could say they are… my children!" Steven chuckled, putting the three pebbles down on the ground and standing up straight. He put his hands on his hips with a determined expression on his face. "Let's do this!"

Most of the day, Steven, the pebbles and Pearl were decorating the ball room and going through the Homeworld music. Steven wanted there to be food, but gems don't eat and apparently the only food on this planet was the snacks in Steven's bag! It would never be enough, unless he could some how multiply it?

"There has to be some kind of magical gem thing that can copy these Chaaps!" Steven jumped in excitement in the middle of the ballroom. Pearl sighed, tapping her finger on her thin lips. "Well.. there is something you could use. But I left it on Earth in my room! Urgh, I knew I should have stored it in my gem!" She huffed and crossed her arms, annoyed at herself.

"Hey it's ok! Maybe we can just- serve water? Blue and Yellow seem to like water, so White must too!" Steven put his fist on his palm, an new idea popping up in his brain. "Pearl, you have a lot of things in your gem right?" He asked, and she nodded. "Can you pull out all of your items that are from Earth? Like books, a volley ball, a Polaroid camera or any other items! We can put those around the room for the Homeworld gems to look at and play around with! And maybe if we can get them to see the wonderful things on Earth, maybe we can get White to see it too!" He threw his arms in the air happily. Pearl looked away with a slight frown, not sure about this idea.

"Steven.. I have a lot of.. very personal things in my gem. And- getting everything out would be a lot of work! And putting them back in and having my surface Pearl organize all those items may overwork my gem.." She said as she lightly placed her hand on her smooth gem. "Hmm.." Steven looked up at Pearls pearl. "What if we only pull out the really REALLY cool stuff? Like my bike! …Wait.. I think that was in Lion... but you do have some of my boardgames, right?" He smiled as Pearl nodded. "Of course! But.. I think you have a few missing pieces to the game." She seemed upset at the incompleteness of the set, but to Steven it wasn't a huge problem. "Well- it will still work! Like twister! Except we will have to add a new rule of no shapeshifting." He said as he looked around the glorious room. The pebbles were doing a great job constructing chairs and tables, decorating them with beautiful carvings and the walls with fine fabric. "You guys are awesome!" Steven complimented, and watched in awe at the pebbles working together to lift heavy things and get to such high places. Some of them blushed a dark shade of grey at the compliment, while others continued to work.

A day and a half went by fast. Steven spent his time with the Pebbles and Pearl planning and arranging things for the party. Or as Pearl likes to call it, a Ball. She thought it would be a better idea to make things a bit more formal since that's what Homeworld gems were used to. They were all so busy getting everything prepared, no one was keeping track of the time and days except Pearl. Even to her it was a surprise when a stopwatch in her gem started to beep, making her light headed briefly as the loud noise filled her small gem. She quickly pulled it out and stopped the watch, realizing now that it had now officially been two days. Today would be the day of the ball, and then only a few hours after it ends, the trial for the Earth case. They only had a matter of hours to 'warm up' to White and hopefully get her in a good mood. If this didn't go well, then the trial wouldn't go well.

Pearl gulped as she put the silent stop watch back in her gem, slowly walking across Pink's room and making her way to the bed Steven was sleeping in. She cleared her throat and knelt down beside him, gently shaking him like a mother waking up her son for school. "Steven.." She whispered softly, hoping he wouldn't wake up with a startle.

The boy groaned and slowly turned over, opening his eyes with a lazy smile. "Pearl..! What time is it?" He yawned, sitting up in his bed as Pearl stood up straight with a serious look on her face. "It's time for the Ball. By now the Homeworld gems should be flooding in the ball room, and the Diamonds would be preparing themselves for their appearance." Pearl said in a rush as she closed her eyes and concentrated.

Her usual Crystal Gem uniform started to glow, and morphed in to something bigger. A dress shape, and then- the bright light faded, and Pearl stood there in a beautiful baby pink leotard and an opaque and also pink cape flowing behind her, sparkling as the light hit the fabric. She also had pink socks that went up to her thighs, and her uniform in general looked like a mixture of Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl's outfits but pink.

"I'll need to wear this at the ball.. Or else Homeworld gems would complain." She said in an annoyed tone and rolled her eyes. "All Pearls wear things like this on Homeworld. And there will be a lot of other high class gems with their Pearl's at this ball." She said as her gem's glow faded, and Steven got off of his bed with a frown. "It's so horrible how Pearls are treated on Homeworld.. I need to fix that too! .. Well- maybe after we save the corrupted gems on Earth." He said as he made his way towards the triangular door that split open in the middle as he approached it. Pearl stood behind him, looking very elegant and suddenly acting quiet. However, she really wanted to speak up. She wanted to tell Steven how impossible it would be to suddenly get every gem on Homeworld to treat Pearls equally. It would never happen, since she knew Pearls will always be seen and known for being slaves. She just had to hope Steven wouldn't bring that up in front of White Diamond.

When Steven arrived, the ball room was filled with different shapes of gems, millions of voices and classical music. The walls were singing, and the Pebbles worked stealthily as they made a few extra tables and chairs. On one side of the room, there were at least a hundred different Pearl's standing in perfect formations with their eyes closed and hands behind their backs. They almost looked like rows upon rows of robots.

Pearl followed Steven's sudden gaze with a frown, quietly informing him. "Pearls aren't allowed to participate in the Ball unless they are needed. But since you're a Diamond, I won't go stand over there so long as you don't order me to." The tall gem smiled reassuringly, and Steven nodded in acknowledgment. He then looked to the far side of the room, where four large chairs had been placed in a Diamond formation like the ones in the court room. The boy knew he should probably go to his pink throne and sit, but he wanted to interact with the other gems. To get to know them and become friends! To do things that no diamond has done in millennia. To drop the formalities and talk about Earth and whatever else came in to his mind! So without even thinking, Steven approached a tall green gem who was standing alone with a gadget in her hand. She had shining high heels and long light green hair. She was also wearing a suit with a cape, and a yellow Diamond in the centre.

Steven cleared his throat and looked up to meet her gaze. Pearl stood a few feet behind him with her legs crossed like a ballet performer.

"Hi! I'm Steven! I.. really like your gem! What is it?" He asked and tilted his head to get a better look at the square green gem right below her neck. The green gem blushed a darker shade of green and rushed to put her gadget away. She then straightened herself up and bowed to Steven with her arms creating the diamond shape on her chest. "Pink Diamond! My apologies.. I didn't expect you to be in a different form.." She said shamefully, keeping her head low as Steven looked at her with nothing but a smile.

"It's ok! You don't have to bow so much, I just want to talk! What's your name?" The green gem stood straight up with the blush still on her face. She looked down at Steven nervously. "Emerald 8XB, Facet 2106." She said professionally, and Steven put a hand on his chin and thought for a moment. "Hmm.." he hummed out loud as he tried his best to think of a good nickname for her, since he couldn't exactly call her Emerald when there were thousands of other Emeralds. "That's a long name.. Can I call you Emmie for short?" He looked up at her joyfully, his eyes almost sparkling in a pleading way. The Emerald couldn't say no to a Diamond, and felt rather happy that she was given a nickname by Pink herself- or himself.

"I'd be honored to accept this new name my Diamond." She replied happily, and it made Steven happy too. "So Emmie! How's your day so far? Mine was kinda crazy- until I fell asleep!" He chuckled a bit, and Emmie replied. "My day has been swell and productive. I just finished my latest assignment and mission report." She said proudly.

"That's great! So uh.. looks like every one is gathering over there- I wonder-" He trailed off, but noticed the cause of the commotion. Yellow and Blue Diamond had entered the room as hundreds of gems made way for their path to the thones. They roared and praised them as the Diamonds casually sat down and dismissed the crowd. "Oh it's Yellow and Blue! I should head over there- but it was great talking to you Emmie!" He gave her a quick smile before running in to the crowd of gems to get to the front. Pearl tried to follow from behind, but she wasn't as small or fast as Steven. The boy was whizzing past and weaving through the crowd of gems without being noticed. It would take a bit if time for Pearl to even get half way in to the crowd.

"Yellow! Blue!" Steven popped out of the crowd and jumped on to his Pink throne. "I'm glad you made it! Is White Diamond coming?" He asked, and Yellow shrugged. "Like I'd know." She said as she waved her yellow gloved hand, while Blue just sighed and looked down at him sadly. "..I wouldn't depend on it too much Pink." Blue sunk deeper in to her chair, seeming smaller than before.

Steven refused to loose hope, and jumped back in the crowd. This time, all the gems around him seemed to notice his uniform and shinning pink gem. They all backed away to create space when Steven slowly landed. Every one seemed confused and unsure if they should cheer or not, since some gems didn't understand this new form and odd voice. Steven just looked around awkwardly, but quickly regained his courage to speak in front of them all.

"It's ok! I just- wanted to dance! Come on guys let's dance!" Steven chuckled and ran up to a purple gem the same height as him. She was standing a few feet away and had a dress that looked a lot like Sapphire's on her form.

The music played and he started to dance with her. She blushed and followed along, and eventually all the gems around them started to dance with a partner while being very mindful not to fuse.

Pearl decided to just stand by Steven's throne and watch all the gems dance. She knew she would never be allowed to dance, and if Steven allowed it.. who knows what Yellow or Blue would say. The Homeworld gems would flip, and surly she would be shattered. And so… she sighed, watching as what seemed like all of Homeworld danced and laughed with joy. Some of them even singing along to the music while others stood along the sides of the room and talked to other gems. The whole thing was beautiful and happy, even Yellow and Blue were smiling and eventually they got up to dance together, formally.

All of the gems moved away to the walls, creating a large open space in the centre as Yellow and Blue held hands and danced to the music. The Pebbles hiding in the ceiling shone a dim spot light on the Diamonds. Everyone stayed silent and watched. They were so graceful, and every movement fit so well with the music as if it was all planned out. The two danced, stepping forward and back. Yellow spanned Blue and they both laughed.

The gems cheered loudly when the music ended. Yellow and Blue ended their dance with a striking pose and chuckled as the crowed once again roared with joy. "Oh Yellow, I forgot how good of a dancer you were.. its been so long.." Blue smiled at her, holding back tears of joy. Yellow sighed and let go of her as they made their way back to their thrones. "Well don't get used to it Blue. It was fun, but we should focus on the Ball. Even if White doesn't come, if we manage to get the Homeworld gems to take Pink's side, the Trail would be less… troubling.." She said awkwardly, and Blue nodded. "I know."

And once Yellow and Blue were back on their seats, the empty space was quickly filled with gems and the floor started humming with music and the sound of voices. Everyone started to dance again, and it seemed like Yellow and Blue were now having a pleasant conversation. Steven only wished that the Pearls could join, and that White Diamond would appear. He wanted her to be happy and have fun like everyone else, and all she needed to do was step in to this room. The more Steven thought about it, the more he realized that the ball would come to a close within the next hour. The Homeworld sun was setting, and at night, all the gems would go back to their missions and jobs all around the galaxy and Homeworld.

Steven was so lost in his thoughts, that he stumbled on one of his dance moves and crashed in to a gem. He collected himself up quickly and helped the other gem up. "I'm so sorry! Are you ok..?" He asked as the other gem chuckled. "Steven, I'm fine." Pearl said as she took the boys hand and got back up with a little bit of his help. "Pearl? Oh wow- I didn't even notice you-! I forgot you were in a pink dress!" He said with a smile as he extended his arms high and held his pink gloved hands up to her. "Do you want to dance?" Steven smiled with his pupils in star shapes.

"..I really shouldn't- I only came here to let you know that the Ball is going to end in an hour." She sighed. " And..I'm a Pearl, I shouldn't be dancing at all." She frowned, but before she could do anything, she felt small hands hold her own hands, and looked down to find him looking up at her with a cute smile. "So? And I'm Steven, and I know you're a Pearl, Pearl!" He chuckled. "And I want to dance with you! It will be fun!" He said as he started to move his foot back and then stepped back forward along with the music, and Pearl followed his movements. She started to feel nervous as she heard the low whispers and mumbling spreading out in to the crowd over the sudden silence. The crowd of gems even made a small open space to give room for Steven and Pearl to dance more freely.

 _"_ _A Diamond dancing with a Pearl?"_

 _"_ _How unprecedented! ..but if a Diamond is doing it..."_

 _"_ _A Pearl shouldn't be holding hands with a Diamond!"_

 _"_ _Maybe I should dance with my Pearl too?"_

 _"_ _I must say, the Pearl does look elegant with her luminous Diamond."_

The mumbles became louder, and Pearl could feel the eyes glaring at her and staring her down. She started to feel small and- afraid. She was doing everything a Pearl shouldn't be doing. Participating in a Ball and dancing with her owner.. But Steven wasn't her owner, and she wasn't a common Pearl. So with this new mindset, she picked up her strength and tried to dance more confidently. Steven seemed happy to see Pearl's dancing suddenly improve, and started to improve his dancing as well. The music started to pick up its slow pace just a tiny bit, and the boy heard movement around him as other gems went back to dancing...

With Pearls.

Steven moved his eyes around the room and noticed that one by one, the Pearl's standing on the far side of the room were being invited in to the Ball and were dancing with their owners. He was surprised to see some gems happy to dance with their Pearls, while most of them were still trying to get used to the idea. And before he knew it, all of the Pearls were dancing with their owners with smile's on their faces. And a new tone of mumbles spread out across the room.

 _"_ _You're an.. adequate dancer Pearl."_

 _"_ _This isn't as bad as I thought it would be.."_

 _"_ _I've never seen you smile like this before.."_

 _"_ _I almost feel sorry for the Pearl-less gems!"_

The boy wanted to leap in to the sky with excitement, but tried his best to remain calm. "Look!" Steven pointed out as he nudged his head to the side a bit, and Pearl looked around. Her eyes widened and a gasp came out of her. "..b..By the stars... I..I never thought I'd see something like this.." she smiled, her eyes shinning from the brink of tears of joy. She looked back at Steven, unable to hold back a few tears. "I can't believe it- Steven.. you really are making a difference.." She chuckled and gave his hands a slight squeeze. "Thank you.."

Yellow Pearl looked up at her Diamond, blushing and wondering if she would be able to do the same- but her Diamond was huge. It was impossible. She would be poofed before even taking a step. She sighed and looked down with a frown, keeping still like a statue.

Yellow Diamond noticed her Pearl's brief stare, and then saw her frown. She knew exactly what she was thinking. Her Pearl wanted to dance with her. But even the thought was so bizarre! However, all the other gems in the room were doing it, and she almost felt left out. So she started to think, and consider it.

All these years of service, ever since she started her duties as a Diamond, her Pearl had been there for her. Always right by her side, happy to do anything she was told. She always stood up for her and defended her in every way, and even got poofed a few times just to stop her Diamond from getting a single scratch. She knew very well that her Pearl loved her more than anything in the world. She was a Pearl, she's supposed to be a slave... but Yellow couldn't help but feel a sudden shift in her light manipulated heart. She's never even complimented her Pearl. She didn't even acknowledge how much her Pearl was putting in to her life just for her. She did everything and Yellow didn't even see it, and dismissed it like it was nothing. Until now.

"Alright.." She grunted and her body started to glow, and she used all her strength to make her form and her gem shrink to an average size temporarily. Only a Diamond could change the size or rotation placement of their gems. She then hopped off her throne and landed in front of Yellow Pearl. She could already see the blush on the Pearls face as she looked up at her smaller Diamond. She was still much taller and bigger then Pearl, but that didn't matter. She felt her Diamond grab her hands and begin to dance with her.

"I'm only doing this once, for your years of service." She said coldly, looking away slightly without noticing her own blush. But when she looked back, she noticed her Pearl shaking with watery eyes. "..I..I don't know what to say.. m..my Diamond.." Her breaths were sharp, and she was a nervous wreck. Maybe even shocked or having a panic attack. Yellow Diamond was so used to seeing her Pearl so composed and elegant- she was the complete opposite now.

And for the first time ever, Yellow didn't see Pearl as an item. She was a gem, with emotions. Not a perfect little toy-slave that made her look more powerful. "Stop crying you look like a fool!" Yellow commanded, and her Pearl quickly shook her head and got rid of the tears.

Blue Diamond and her Pearl we're doing the same thing, except it was much easier for Blue to dance with her Pearl. She always had a more open heart and cared about her Pearl. Just like when she found Pink- or Steven, on Earth, she couldn't compose herself. She danced with her Pearl, who was blushing and more than happy to follow along. She remained quiet, but Blue could tell she was enjoying the dancing.

The whole entire room was filled with such a positive aurora and happiness. Gems opening their hearts and eyes as they danced with their Pearls, who were all so happy to be noticed in such a way by their owners. A beautiful harmony flowed within the room and around everyone, and not a single gem at the Ball was left out. Even the gems without Pearl's took turns dancing with other gem's Pearls. Everyone was happy together, and accepting each other, and Steven could feel his mother's strong joy through his glowing pink gem. He laughed along with Pearl and danced, his gem glowing brighter and brighter-

And suddenly he wasn't himself.

He someone entirely new.


	9. Chapter 9

The Voice of Pearl

 _Chapter Nine_

The bright white glow beamed as the Diamond fused with his Pearl. Their body was nothing but a glowing figure of light that grew and grew, until finally it stopped at around Yellow Diamond's shoulder length thanks to the big volume of hair that was forming on their head. Then her arms extended and legs stood firmly on the ground as Pearl's gem traveled up to its forehead and the Pink Diamond shifted and rotated in the centre of the figure's stomach.

She opened her four eyes, her top set of eyes were light blue while the other two underneath were pink with white Diamond pupils in the centre. Her nose was long and pointy just like Pearl's, but her skin was peach color. More and more became visible as the light finally faded, and there stood Rainbow Crystal. A never before seen gem, and fusion. Her short but thick blond hair curled up at her shoulders, and her clothes were a mixture of Steven's Pink Diamond outfit that was topped with a few extra pieces to it from Pearl's dress. As well as the rainbow shimmer her hair and outfit casted along her form. She was slim and tall, but not as slim as Pearl. Her delicate toes were covered with ballerina-like slippers, and to her surprise she was able to stand on one toe and swirl once with a low-voiced chuckle. Her tone still had a hint of Pearl's feminine voice within in, but Steven's defiantly dominated it in the fusion. Her laugh sounded like him, but smile looked like Pearls since she had a more oval shaped face.

"Whoa.. I um.." Rainbow Crystal lowered her head, blushing a shade of blue as she felt hundreds of gem staring her down. The fusion gulped, frozen and not knowing what to do. "W..we didn't mean to fuse!" She said quickly and waved her hands in front of her in panic. She looked at the two speechless Diamonds on the other side of the room, their faces drawing out all the joy of the moment.

"Pearl- I'm so sorry.." The Steven side of Rainbow Crystal spoke quietly to herself as the pink diamond eyes opened wide, becoming dominant for a while until the blue set of eyes took over. Then the Pearl side of her spoke. "It's ok Steven. I should have been more careful.. we need to unfuse." She said in her low voice, a bead of sweat trailing down her forehead as she averted her eyes from the crowd. The Steven side of her spoke once again, the blue set of eyes squinting as the diamond eyes flattered open. "No we can't! If we unfuse- the Diamonds might hurt you!" She mumbled to herself in a hurry, not realizing how loud her voice actually was. It was loud enough for both Yellow and Blue to pick up on her words.

"Pink- why would you fuse with a Pearl?!" Yellow Diamond shouted, her body glowing as she went back to her normal size. Blue did the same, holding Yellow back a bit gently. "Don't let your emotions take over." Blue tried to say calmly, despite feeling so uncomfortable by the presence of Rainbow Crystal. With a slightly calmer mindset, Yellow took a deep breath before turning to face the cowering fusion.

"Pink, unfuse this instant!" Yellow commanded, but Rainbow Crystal had enough courage to shake her head. "Only if you promise not to hurt Pearl! This wasn't her fault- it just happened!" Steven's side spoke, and the fusion glared at Yellow with her pink eyes until she sighed. "Fine. Let's all pretend this never happened." Yellow said as Blue took a step forward, curiously looking at Rainbow Crystal.

"..why did you fuse? And- why with a Pearl?" Blue asked, narrowing her eyes as if looking at some kind of experiment that was in the middle of the room.

"I became me because... Pearl and Steven have a strong connection. We both care about each other so much, a..and Pearl has spent fifteen years raising Steven to become who he is today. When we danced... it almost felt like all of the worlds problems were being pushed away. All we could think about was how much fun we were having dancing together. " Rainbow Crystal smiled, holding her own large slender hands together. "I don't know what Steven or Pearl would do without each other.." She hesitated for a moment, looking around the room.

Suddenly her expression changed in to a more determined look. She had everyone's attention, and maybe this was the only chance Rainbow Crystal would ever get to speak. Her pink eyes glistened as she scanned the room. "Every gem in this room is unique, and special. No matter what your gem is, we are all lives, living together in this world! Our values are equal, and our relationships shouldn't be determined by the chosen rank of a gem!" She said as she gestured to a green and pink colored Pearl standing along the side. "Just because Pearl emerged with a pearl as her gem, doesn't mean she has to be a slave!" The Rainbow Crystal gestured to herself. "And just because I have a Diamond, it doesn't make me anymore important than all of you! The relationship between Pearl and Steven created me! Fusion doesn't have to be forced, or used to fight. No one should decide who gets to fuse with who! You can all fuse with whoever you want to, and if that's so wrong- then why am I here in the first place?" She chuckled. "Nothing about love is wrong! It's so strong, that it created me!"

"Fusion, is love taken form. I'm me because Steven and Pearl love each other like a family. And love is an amazing thing, you don't know until you experience it, and avoiding it isn't going to do anything! Love is also a powerful thing. Its so powerful, it can create new gems like me, and new weapons like this!" Rainbow Crystal summoned Pearl's spear in one hand, and Steven's shield in the other. The crowd gasped and stepped back. The weapons glowed as she crashed them together, creating a weapon that looked like an umbrella.

"See! This weapon can be a shield, and a spear all in one!" She opened the umbrella, showing the swirling shield to the whispering crowd, and then closed the umbrella, showing off the spear part of it glimmering under the light. "So going back to your question-" She turned and faced Blue Diamond. "Steven and Pearl fused because they.. uh… mostly wanted each other to be safe, and wanted to protect each other. And the easiest way to do that was for them to become me. I can feel both of their emotions and wants.. and the determination to keep each other safe is so strong.." She clenched her fist, but then relaxed and smiled at Blue. "And maybe they got carried away with the dancing too- but it was fun! There's nothing wrong about having a bit of fun in this world." Rainbow Crystal smiled, looking at Blue and Yellow and their dumbfounded faces.

The ballroom was filled with thousands of voices and whispers, that were all merged and impossible to understand the words from Rainbow Crystal's height.

"Go to your room, NOW!" Yellow scolded, and the room went silent. She pointed to the large diamond-sized doors as they swung open, and waited for Rainbow Crystal to leave the room. The fusion frowned, her weapon disappearing in to nothing as she stood her ground. "I'm sorry if I upset you. I just wished you would all understand.." She sighed and walked out the room looking gloomy while slouching slightly. And once she left, Yellow flicked her wrist and a pair of smaller doors on the other side of the ballroom swung open. "Go back to work!" Yellow commanded as all the gems in the room quietly shuffled and moved about, flooding out the door until only Yellow, Blue, and their Pearls remained in the room.

As soon as everyone was gone, Yellow let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose as she fell back in to her throne. "Why did she have to fuse?!" She said annoyingly to herself, but then felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She moved her own hand from her face, and turned to face Blue, who seemed calm and content. Yellow could feel the calming energy pour in to her body from Blue's hand as if making all the tension fade away.

"Yellow, Pink might have a point. I don't see the harm in two different gems fusing. Maybe a Pearl and a Diamond wasn't a great choice- but still, think about other fusions! Other gems- new gems with powerful weapons, fighting with their strong power of love. Imagine an army of different fusions! Of course it seems a little bizarre.. but now that Pink's back, maybe we should listen to her more.." Blue frowned. "The whole reason she faked her own shattering was because we didn't listen to her. But I guess Pink is a Diamond too, and she matters. Right Yellow?" Blue asked, moving her hand away once she finished using her abilities to calm her down.

"I see your point, but none of it matters. White would never allow it. She's always stuck with the old laws from Era one, and is obsessed with keeping things the same till this day." Yellow frowned, looking away. "That's why she hasn't left Homeworld. The silly rule of how Diamonds don't need to be present at an invasion- she took that too seriously." She said annoyingly, still not sure why White would keep that decade old tradition. "Let's just call it a day. I still have a few reports to go over before the trial." Yellow sighed and stood up. "Come on Pearl." Yellow Diamond walked out of the Ball room with her loud clicking heels echoing along the walls and quieter down the hallway as her Pearl scurried along from behind.

Blue got up as well, lowering her hand for Pearl. Blue Pearl noticed the large hand lowered in front of her, and stepped on, unsure of if this what she was supposed to do.

"Pearl." Blue said as she held her flat palm in front of her own face. "I want you to know that you are very valid and important to me. Even if I never say it- I'm saying it now." She smiled lightly and moved her thumb across Blue Pearl's face gently, pushing her bangs out of the way so she could see her eyes.

Blue Pearl blushed deeply as she looked at her Diamond, who was looking right back at her and in to her green and blue eyes. "Oh Pearl.. I don't know how you see all the time with your hair in front of your face." Blue chuckled, still slightly amazed that her Pearl had one green eye and one blue eye. At first Blue Diamond thought it was weird, and commanded her to cover it up. But now, everything seemed different. There was a beautify in her defection that made her so different from the other Pearls of Homeworld. "After the trial, you are free to do whatever you like with your hair." Blue Diamond said as her Pearl blushed deeper, looking down nervously and speaking in her soft voice. "..thank you m..my Diamond.." She bowed, and Blue seemed pleased. She had hoped, that this small gesture, will make Pink realize that she was listening to her.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Crystal arrived in Pink's room, sitting on a bench the pebbles had made with her head in her hands as the doors closed behind her. "..I think I ruined it.." Steven's side said as her form started to glitch and glow- until finally, they unfused. Steven fell over to the left while Pearl fell over to the right, both of them sitting up and looking at each other. "You didn't ruin it Steven.. You finally said to all those gem's, things that I've always wanted to say right to their faces! And who knows.. maybe some of them will listen to you, since your mother did have quite a lot of loyal gems by her side." Pearl reassured him, standing up and dusting herself off. "I'd say this was more of a success! All those Pearl's dancing in the Ball.. none of it would have happened if you didn't break the barrier." She said metaphorically and walked over to Steven, extending her hand out to help him stand on his two feet.

The boy took her hand with a smile and got up. "..Thanks.. But- What about White? She didn't come to the Ball.." Steven's frown faded as he thought about the trial and White. All of it was happening today, probably in a few hours from now.

"She doesn't come to most events.. but she is coming to this trial.." Pearl frowned, looking down at Steven with a worried expression on her face. "I don't want you to say the wrong things to White. I know you have a big heart and want to help everyone.. But White needs to hear logical things too. She won't take your feelings and opinions seriously without some other proper explanation.." Pearl sighed, walking over back to the bench and sitting down, slumping forward with her face in her hands. "What if she takes you away and hurts you?! ..I'll be helpless if that happens.." She felt her eyes starting to water, her negative thoughts and worries dragging her further in to depression. Steven then quickly made his way to Pearl, sitting next to her on the bench and nervously thought of what to say.

"She can't hurt us if we are together." He said as Pearl looked over at him with glossy eyes. "..Steven.. Are you thinking-" Before she could even finish, the boy replied. "About being Rainbow Crystal for the trial?" He smiled. "White can't separate us if we form her. And.. You can help me say the right things in front of White. Rainbow Crystal will be able to say things that we both want to say, and...I.. I feel more stronger when I fuse with you." He blushed slightly, and continued. "You've always been so smart and strong, but also really good at strategizing, which we will need for the trial! You know more about the Diamonds and Homeworld then I do, so I think we should form her." She said as Pearl looked away with a slight frown on her face.

"Yellow and Blue would never allow it.. and White? I have no idea how she would react!" Pearl worried, but felt Steven grab her hand and hold it tight. "It's going to be ok. Yellow and Blue won't hurt me, and they won't let White hurt me. And we will be Rainbow Crystal, then maybe we have a chance at defending ourselves if White tried to hurt us at the trial!" The boy said to Pearl as she sniffed and wiped her tears away.

"You're right.. but I really don't think fusing would make White happy.." She seemed unsure and insecure, but in Steven's mind, this was all going to work out. He had a plan that he thinks could not only save the corrupted gems on Earth, but the gems on Homeworld too.


	10. Chapter 10

The Voice of Pearl

 _Chapter Ten_

"Pink Diamond."

The unusual voice of White Pearl echoed through out the room as Steven quickly finished his second bag of Chaaps. He set the empty bag aside on his bed and walked up to the Pearl, who was standing in the centre of his mother's room so emotionlessly. She had her hands up to her shoulders, and her grey eye never looked at him when she talked. It was even creepy for his Pearl, who was just zipping up the hot dog duffle bag and putting it back in her shimmering gem.

"The Trial will commence shortly. My Diamond wishes for you to be in the court room in time." White Pearl said as Steven approached her, a confused expression on his face. He hadn't told Pearl about his dream- about how White's Pearl was Pink's Pearl, and happily playing around with him in this room. She seemed like a completely different Pearl, and now any trace of who she was was gone.. White Pearl was broken, and Steven knew exactly what to do.

"Uh.. That eye looks- painful. Let me help you!" The boy smiled and licked his palm. He lifted his hand and touched her gem that was placed in the centre of her stomach.

"STEVEN WAIT!" Pearl shouted as she ran as fast as she could to Steven and White Pearl, but she was too late. White Pearl's body glowed, and her White shell of skin crumbled in to nothingness as the pink colors underneath were slowly exposed. Her gem was pink, her outfit was pink, her hair and skin were all pink. There wasn't a trace of white anywhere, and even her eyes fluttered open with a peachy pink color in her pupils that seemed much more alive and awake than before. Her eye was healed, and her hands fell to her sides as she slumped down on to the floor, shaking from the shock of being healed and brought back to reality once again.

She looked around with wide eyes, hunched over the tiled floor and using her hands to keep herself steady. She then turned her head to meet Steven's eyes with her pink ones. She scanned him from head to toe, taking note of his outfit and pink gem. Then all the memories came flowing back in to her. The memories when she was being mind controlled and trapped within her own body. It was a nightmare, and now thanks to Steven, it was the past.

Pink Pearl's eyes started to water as she quickly wrapped her arms around Steven, hugging him tightly.

"..thank you.." She whispered in her high pitched voice, closing her eyes and enjoying the hug. The suprised Steven hugged her back, smiling lightly. "I saw you in my dream-" He said as the hug ended, and Pink Pearl stood up with Steven's help. "You were helping me learn how to juggle, and fixing my outfit!" He chuckled and so did Pink Pearl.

"Oh I remember that- all those running around and other activists you did always caused a rip somewhere in your uniform! And sometimes even my own!" Pink Pearl said casually, and unlike the other Pearls, didn't use any formalities and spoke just as if she was his best friend. He replied to her as she blushed a shade of dark pink at the memory. "Well, your outfit looks amazing! The black and grey outfit was ok, but I defiantly prefer this pink one!" He complimented, only realizing a few seconds later that his Pearl probably used to wear a black and grey outfit. He felt bad and briefly turned around and waved to Pearl who had stopped a few feet away from him and Pink Pearl with an uneasy expression on her face. He smiled nervously, hoping she wasn't too upset. "S-Sorry! I didn't mean to offend-" before the boy could finish his sentence, he felt an unpleasant aura coming from Pink Pearl. Followed by a low growl as she spoke.

"You..." She clenched her pink skinned fists, glaring at Pearl with deadly eyes. "You did this to me. You took her away from me!" Pink Pearl stepped forward, but Steven was quick to act, he stood in front of her and stopped her from walking any further. He frowned and spread his arms out to cause a somewhat of a blockade in between the two Pearls. "Wait! Please don't fight- this whole thing isn't anyone's fault! Well... if anything, it's my moms fault." He sighed, but Pink Pearl was too busy gazing at the other Pearl with nothing but hatred.

"I was supposed to go to Earth with her! I was the one who should have lived on Earth with her! Not a shatterer like you!" Pink Pearl shouted, wanting to go up to her and punch her face like a little child. "I was the one she always used to play with, and we always both made each other so happy.." She frowned, her fists relaxing as her anger turned in to sadness. "You.. you were supposed to come back with her!" Pink Pearl cried. "You were supposed to invade Earth and come back to Homeworld! Then things would have gone back to normal! I should have been given back to her, but because of you- I had to live centuries of torture!" Her fists clenched again. "All those days I was a slave to White- and you were on Earth with her, living happily... THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ME!" She stomped her foot and tried to take another step, but Steven stopped her again.

"Please Pearl! You have to calm down!" Steven looked up at the Pink Pearl. "That's all in the past! You're here now, with me! And I won't let White hurt you anymore." He smiled lightly and held her hands as she looked down at him with a blush. "You're going to be ok now. When this is all over, you can come back to Earth with us!" He reassured her, and she seemed to love the sound of that. Her anger vanished as she was brought back to the present, being able to put aside the past for now.

"I would love that my Diamond!" Her eyes sparkled as she perked up happily. Completely forgetting about the other Pearl in the room. But suddenly she gasped, holding Steven's hand and running towards the triangular door of the room. "We need to go! To the trial! Before White gets there!" Pink Pearl said as Steven was dragged along, but managed to pull his hand away a few steps from the door to the room.

"Wait! Me and Pearl need to form Rainbow Crystal!" He said as he turned back and looked at Pearl, who still seemed unsure about the idea.

"It's time to dance!" Steven chuckled as he did a few classic moves while making his way closer to Pearl, while Pearl twirled elegantly towards him with her slender form. The two were synchronized and perfectly in balance. Eventually Steven and Pearl met in the middle of their distance. He put his arms up and grabbed ahold of Pearl's hands, they spun around as their forms started to glow.

However, unlike last time they fused, the glow formed the shape of Rainbow Crystal and started to ripple. The glowing form glitched and the shape of Rainbow Crystal was gone. Steven and Pearl unfused and landed on the ground. The boy was confused as to why the fusing didn't work, but Pearl knew it was probably because of her insecurity about being Rainbow Crystal for the trial.

Steven sighed and got up, and Pearl did as well. She had an apologetic look on her face as she approached Steven. "I'm sorry.. that was my fault. I just.." She scratches the back of her head, nervously looking away. "Yellow was furious when we fused. If she sees Rainbow Crystal at the trial- we will have two upset Diamonds to deal with!" Pearl insisted and fixed her gaze back on Steven, who was frowning as he spoke to her. "It's ok. Maybe we should just.. go? I don't want to keep everyone waiting." He said as he started walking down the hallway alongside Pink Pearl, averting his eyes to the ground. He started to feel nervous, anxious, and scared. The trial was seconds away, and his Pearl didn't want to initiate his plan. A part of him was a little saddened and upset at Pearl. If only he could get the whole of Homeworld to see how a fusion between two different gems was OK, maybe he could have changed a lot. That's what he wanted to do anyway, he wanted to change everyone's ways and stop the Diamonds spread of terror across space.

Pearl tagged along from behind, also keeping her eyes down as their footsteps echoed along the hallway, filling in the awkward silence. She knew she made Steven upset, and knew she should say something, yet she kept her mouth shut the whole walk to the trial room was surprisingly more like an outdoor arena or base ball court. The three of them took time walking all the way to the middle.

Pearl didn't even realize them coming to a stop in the centre of it all, where there was a pink throne- this time it was Steven's size- and a pink table in front of it. On the table was a small gem tech device that was the equivalent to a microphone back on Earth. Steven assumed that he would have to sit there and talk, with White Diamond at the head of the stadium-like arena. Her huge white throne stood out among the crowd benches, while Yellow and Blue's thrones were a little smaller and located on the left and right side of the arena.

White Diamond would be in front of him, while Yellow would be on his right and Blue on his left facing him. Thankfully all the thrones were far apart from each other, meaning that it would take more time to get a blow if White Diamond did lash out like last time. Maybe he would even have enough time to form Rainbow Crystal, but ether way, he would be facing White head-on. He just had to hope that Yellow and Blue would help him out. He was so lost in his thoughts, that he didn't realize the growing pain in the back of his neck from looking up for too long.

The strain came to an ease as he stopped gazing up. He walked over to his throne and sat down on it easily, and to his surprise, it was really comfortable now that it wasn't huge.

"The other Diamonds should be here soon. Until they arrive, you should try and get some rest. We don't know how long this trial is going to last.." Pearl said as she stood to the right of Steven's throne, and Pink Pearl stood to the left. It was odd for him to have two Pearls almost guarding him like this. It didn't feel right, but they had no other place to go. He sighed and nodded. "I'll try- but I'm a heavy sleeper- so wake me up when they are here!" Steven said as he got comfortable and cozy in his throne and closed his tired eyes.

When he opened them again, he quickly started acknowledging the loud noise and moving blurs around the arena. And when he was fully awake, he noticed that Pearl had woken him up by gently shaking him and saying his name.

"The Diamonds are coming-" Pearl said to him as he gathered himself up. His vision started to clear and the weight of the world came tumbling back on him. He noticed the seats around the arena was now filled with thousands of gems, all cheering as three bright lights shone on the White, Yellow and Blue thrones, similar to the beam of the warp pad.

And then the Diamonds were there.

They all sat down on their chairs and the crowd fell silent. Yellow and Blue Pearl stood beside their Diamonds with an uneasy expression on their faces. They knew what Steven had done as soon as they came in the room- he fixed White's Pearl. It had been so long since Yellow and Blue Pearl had seen Pink Pearl. She was one of their very close friends before turning in to a moving statue. And now that she was back to normal, standing beside Steven, they knew this trial wasn't going to be easy.

Pearl knew since the moment Pink Pearl was healed that there would be no going back.. unless White decided to break her again. She would never allow Pink to have two Pearls. And out of all the Diamonds here in this room, White was the most deserving of a Pearl. Seeing what Steven did to hers would defiantly make her angry, since it would make her Pearl-less.

Everyone watched carefully as all the Diamonds sat down. Yellow and Blue were giving each other glances, while White just stared down at Steven with a creepy grin on her face. She tapped her finger along the arm rest of her chair, and let out a long sigh. Pearl was on edge, ready to protect Steven at all costs if she tried to do anything to him.

"Hello Starlight." White chuckled. "Tell me again why we are here." She said as she gazed down at Steven, who gulped and responded in to the small gem-microphone in front of him. "I brought you all together today to make a case for Earth." He looked over at his Pearl, who nodded quietly, encouraging him to continue. "I want the gems on Earth to be healed, and for Earth to be off of the invasion list!" He determinedly said with confidence to White, who hummed and thought for a moment before replying. "Very well.. But first let us talk about what you did to my Pearl." The Diamond said in a rather optimistic tone, while Yellow facepalmed and Blue looked away from the scene with a frown on her face.

"I thought we had a deal pink. Your Pearl was clearly unfit to aid you in your first invasion, Oh what am I saying?!" She laughed. "Your Pearl was unfit to aid you in ANYTHING! Honestly what did you do to her Pink? Ive never seen such a disobedient Pearl." White's smile disappeared, and she tilted her head to one side, rubbing the gem on her forehead. "I was kind enough to lend you mine, but look at what you've done to her! She's become this… soft defective thing!" She waved her hand in front of her, motioning at Pearl.

"Honestly Pink, you can't have two Pearls." White rolled her eyes, and then finally, Yellow decided to pitch in. She cleared her throat loudly and spoke. "White, maybe we should deal with this matter after the trial? I'm sure there is a lot that Pink has to say about.. Earth." Yellow Diamond proposed, and White went with the flow and agreed to put the matter aside as of now.

"You want me to leave Homeworld and save a planet you've been hiding out in for all these years? Tricking everyone in to thinking you were shattered? I don't think you've thought this through Pink." White said in an annoyed tone, and Steven crossed his arms, also annoyed that she still talked to him as if he was his mom. "White, I'm NOT Pink Diamond! I have her gem, but I don't have any of her memories, or personality. I grew up on Earth, and I didn't know that my mom was Pink Diamond when I was there! I thought she was Rose Quartz, but it was only recently that I found out the truth!" Steven said in to the microphone, and the crowd listened carefully. "I thought that I had Rose Quarts's gem, and that my mom-Pink, was the leader of a rebellion! I had no idea she that she was one of the leaders of Homeworld!" He stood up. "Everything that Pink Diamond did- I would have done it differently! Somethings, I wouldn't have done at all! But I can't change the past and what she did. I didn't even exist until fifteen years ago! Please understand that I'm not her!" He begged slightly, looking up at White with pleading eyes. "I'm Steven, a human. And Pink Diamond gave me her gem so that I could exist." He finished and sat back down on his chair, and Pearl gently put a hand over his hand that was resting on the arm rest of his throne. Their eyes met and she smiled briefly as if telling him he did a good job. She didn't even hear the low growl from Pink Pearl, or see her angry expression and clenched fists.

"Steven." Blue Diamond spoke this time, graceful and calm as always. "Are you saying that the Pink we knew is.. is gone?" She asked, her eyes glimmering slightly as she looked down at him. The boy frowned, nodding a bit before replying. "Pink is no longer in this world.. But She's always watching over us. Thats what my dad used to tell me." He smiled ever so slightly. "And Now I'm here. Pink disappeared because she wanted me to exist, and I couldn't control that. Because when I came in to this world… she was already gone. I never even got to meet her." His smile turned in to a frown, and he could almost feel the sprouting blue aura illuminating from Blue. "I have some pieces of her personality because of the gem she gave me, but that doesn't make me her! I would have never faked my own shattering, or used Pearl like she did! But I don't blame her.. She didn't know what she was doing, even if she meant good." Steven watched as Blue shed a few tears, the gems around her crying slightly as well. He couldn't help but let a few tears drop as well, since now that he said everything out loud, it hit him more harder than his thoughts did.

"Pink Diamond wanted to protect all of Earth, and the life on it. She also wanted Earth to be a refuge for off-colors and any other gems that would want to live there." He said as he heard a few gasps and mumbles from the crowd. The half gem then looked back at White, who seemed to be taking everything in emotionlessly. "You don't have to shatter someone because they are different! It wasn't their fault that they were born differently. Just because they are an off-color, doesn't mean that they are any different from the other gems on Homeworld! All of them, want to be a part of this world and live freely, but they can't do that if you shatter them at first sight! Pink Diamond wanted to give them a chance, A chance at living. I don't see how thats so bad.." He was tense when he finished, wondering if he should have even said the things he had just said to all of Homeworld, since this was being broadcasted across the planet to gems who couldn't physically come here.

Now it was Yellow's turn to speak. "So you want us to send all the off-colors to Earth?" She asked, and Steven nodded. Yellow sighed as she motioned for her Pearl to take notes. "We'll add that to the agenda." She said coldly as her Pearl started typing things on an opaque diamond-shaped screen that was floating in front of her.

"Thats quite enough chat about off-colors." White's voice boomed across the arena and everyone's eyes fell on her. "You know I won't leave Homeworld unless absolutely necessary." White said as she snapped her fingers, and a small screen appeared in front of Steven. It had a ton of Gem letters on it. He scrolled through them, trying to figure out what White was showing him. He didn't have to ponder long, since White answered his question. "That is a list of all the gems that went missing after the Gem War on Earth." White said blankly, as if not caring for the gems on that list at all. She then snapped her fingers again, and the screen in front of Steven disappeared. "All those missing gems are on Earth. Find all of them, and bring them back to Homeworld." White mumbled that last part, but the boy heard clearly. His face lit up and he smiled happily. "A-and then will you heal them?!" The eagerness in his tone was strong.

White laughed. It was a long, evil laugh. Loud enough to silence out every other noise in the arena. Everyone looked at each other awkwardly, not being able to identify what was so funny. Then again, nobody could ever predict what was going inside White's head.

"Of course not!" She finished laughing. "Your asking a lot here Steven." She had finally said his name, and it made the boy a little bit happy. "You want us to heal gems, send off colors to Earth and take the whole planet off the invasion list! Thats three things in one case!" The small hint of laughter returned in White. "We aren't just going to give it to you! I'm sure you remember what happened the last time Pink wanted something and we gave it to her." White glanced at Blue and Yellow, who both nodded uncomfortably in agreement.

Steven had a feeling he knew where this was going. If he wanted those three things to happen, he needed to give White three things that she wanted. He sighed and looked up at her. "What do you want me to do?" Steven asked, and White just smiled. "Oh I don't want you to do anything." White then fixed her gaze on the pale Pearl standing beside Steven. "I have a few questions for your renegade Pearl." She said as she waved her hand, and a circular platform formed underneath Pearl's two feet. The platform rose up to White's eye level, similar to the platform Steven was put on when he was in trial with Lars.

"WAIT! Don't hurt her!" Steven jumped, and tried to get on top of the growling platform, but it was too high. He floated back down, catching Pearl's saddened gaze with his own sad eyes before slowly landing on the ground.

"I'm not going to hurt her, I just have a few questions…" White said as she looked at her Pearl from head to toe. She may have pink hair, but her skin was still white, and her gem remained on her forehead just like White's own.

"Now tell me Pearl." White narrowed her eyes. "Why did't you report back to me about what Pink was doing?" The pale Diamoned asked skeptically, curious to know the answer despite knowing it was going to be a bad one.

"I..I was told to make her happy, and so.. I acted accordingly." Pearl's shaky voice made it too obvious how nervous she was, but White could care less. She chuckled once again, her black lipstick glimmering as she spoke again. "You were supposed to make her happy, without breaking any of the laws." White moved her hand and grabbed Pearl, holding her closer. "You were supposed to speak up if Pink was doing anything she wasn't supposed to be. You were supposed to shape her up to become a responsible Diamond." White tightened her grip on Pearl slightly, making the gem wince. "Pink started a rebellion against herself, and shattered many gems that were both fighting for her. And then she faked her shattering, and made us all look like a fool to the rest of the Galaxy!" She growled. "You shouldn't have helped her in the rebellion, and you shouldn't have disobeyed me! And don't even get me started on how unprecedented it was for you to shatter her!" White shouted with a bit of sadness in her voice. "Because of you, Pink came up with this silly idea. Because of you, everyone mourned for her. You should have spoken up Pearl!" White squeezed her hand around her, Pearl winced more painfully this time, her physical form glitching.

"STOP!" Steven shouted at the top of his lungs, now standing on the risen platform Pearl was standing on before being picked up by White Diamond.

She loosened her grip on Pearl, and the quivering gem sighed of relief. White Diamond looked at Steven with out changing her expression. "She's not your Pearl anymore!" The Diamond growled and turned her attention back to Pearl. She squinted her eyes, her grip tightening once again. "Why did you do it?! Why did you start this silly rebellion and shatter Pink?! Why didn't you stop her?!" White was now furious, and everyone in the arena could sense it. Blue looked over at Yellow with a frown, as if asking her to do something- but there was nothing she could do. She wouldn't dare to fight White, but the Pearl in her hand was close to being poofed. Was it really worth it for a Pearl? To her it wasn't, but to Steven it was. The boy jumped with all his might from the risen platform over to White. He was aiming to land in her hand and to help Pearl out of her grip, but with a swift flick of her freehand, Steven was sent flying back.

Pink Pearl rushed to his aid, spreading her arms out and walking around the open space with her eyes fixed on him. "I'll catch you my Diamond!" She said as she stopped in the right spot and caught Steven before he hit the ground. Thankfully, he was still conscious, but there was a slight scratch on his cheek from the sharp black nails that White Diamond had.

Pearl saw all of this happen, feeling helpless in White's grasp as she watched Steven get hit and fall. He had done that for her, and she felt like she had to do something back. The least she could do was answer White's questions truthfully, and maybe her rage would be aimed towards her and not Steven. So she gathered up all her strength and looked White Diamond right in the eyes.

"I DID IT BECAUSE I LOVED HER!"

Pearl cried, closing her eyes and facing down as she said so. She expected the worse, since White Diamond would never accept an excuse like that- But it wasn't an excuse, it was the truth. And once she felt her grip loosen, she continued to speak. "I disobeyed every law, and aided in a rebellion because I thought.. That we could have a life together on Earth. I couldn't go back after I fell in love.. I know what she did was wrong, and I shouldn't have encouraged her.. but she was happy. And when you love someone- All you want is to see them happy.." Pearl looked up at White Diamond, who was listening quietly until now.

"Love? Happiness? Oh please.." White rolled her eyes. "And did Pink love you back?" The question felt like a stab in the heart to Pearl, and the tears wouldn't stop at this point. She lowered her head, shaking it slightly. "No." She sniffed. "No one could ever love a Pearl like that.. It was silly of me to even hope that I could be with a Diamond.." She stumbled on her words, not caring what came out of her mouth at this point. She just needed to keep Steven safe. Thats all that mattered.

White Diamond smiled, her grip loosening more as she used her thumb to stroke Pearl's hair. "At least we agree on one thing." Her chuckle sounded more louder up close, and it was starting to scare her. She could never forgive herself if White shattered her in front of Steven, but maybe the thought came a little too late. "You should have spoken up Pearl." White said as she stopped stroking her hair. "You shouldn't have stayed quiet." Then the grip around Pearl became suddenly so tight. She held her firmly and lifted her free hand up, pointing her index finger at her throat. Her black claw-like nail was inches away from Pearl's pale neck. "You seem to like being quiet. Why don't we make that permanent? Consider this.. a punishment for keeping all these secrets from me, and everyone else." White grinned and touched the Pearls neck with the tip of her black nail. A bright light flashed before everyone's eyes at the contact, and a painful scream echoed out of Pearl's mouth as the light brightened. White kept her nail on her throat, watching the glow create cracks into her neck. "Stay still Pearl." She chuckled, and pushed her nail more against her cracking white skin.

Eventually the scream faded, and when the light was gone, an unconscious Pearl remained in White's hand. She had black lightning streaks on her neck where White's nail had made contact. It looked identical to the cracks across Pink Pearl's eye before she was healed. And her clothes and hair..everything was a shade of grey. Her skin was still a pale white, but her hair was a light grey. It looked as if her life had been drained out of her.

White sighed and put her down in front of Steven, who quickly hopped out of Pink Pearl's arms and ran over to his Pearl. She lay on the ground, not moving.

His face was pale, and he was panicking on the inside but tried his best to keep his composure. The gem quickly licked his hand, kneeling down and lifting Pearl's head on to his lap with his other hand, and quickly placed the one he had licked on her neck. The boy waited patiently for her to heal, but nothing happened. He started shaking, scared that his healing powers couldn't heal Pearl.

"Did you really think I was going to make this as easy as that?" White laughed. "There's only one way to help her now, but we all know that will never happen." The Diamond said as she watched the scene in front of her play out. Her Pearl started to wake up, and Steven smiled when her eyes fluttered open. There was a small flicker of hope in him that said his healing powers worked, but the painful cracks on her neck remained. He gently helped her sit up, holding her hands as he spoke softly. "P-Pearl..? Are you ok..?" The worried boy looked at her with watery eyes.

Pearl opened her mouth to speak. To tell Steven that she was ok- but no words came out.


	11. Chapter 11

The Voice of Pearl

 _Chapter Eleven_

Pearl's pale blue eyes widened with shock and horror as no sound came out of her mouth. She chocked as quietly as possible and tried to speak again, but she remained mute. The pale gem slowly placed her trembling hand on the piercing pain on her neck. She rubbed it gently, getting a feel for the rough cuts and edges of the dark cracks on her neck while she winced with pain. Pearl quickly moved her hand away from the infected area with a hiss, her eyes becoming glossy as tears started to form. Not only had she lost her voice, but she was loosing her composer as well. The pale gem didn't want to cry in front of all of Homeworld, not when all the eyes were glaring down at her and watching her every single move.

"P..Pearl? Did.. did she take your voice?!" Steven gasped as Pearl tried to process those simple words. She knew he was right, and that there was nothing she could do about it. So the gem remained on her knees on the white tilted floor, looking down at her own pathetic reflection as she nodded. Pearl closed her burning eyes to keep her gaze away from the crowd all around her, giving in to the small tears that dripped from her eyes. She felt like she just lost a very important part of her. Something that she used every day to communicate with the ones she loved and sing out her emotions. Being forced to not speak about certain things was already the worse form of torture ever, and when she finally got rid of that curse, it was replaced with something worse. Her hands didn't need to be forced to her mouth, since now, nothing could come out of it anyway.

Steven stepped forward and past Pearl, an angry look on his face as his fists clenched tightly. He had been trying so hard to not get mad at White Diamond, but this was it. There was not a single hint of empathy towards her any more, but just anger and sadness.

"Give Pearl her voice back!" He shouted, trying not to summon his shield by instinct. The boy gave White a stern look through his eyes during the moments of silence, which was then broken by a loud laughter. She parted her shining black lips and spoke teasingly. "Oh you can't have both starlight! It's ether her voice, or the gems on Earth. The choice is yours to make." White said simply, casting Steven a passive aggressive look before leaning forward in her throne. She was very curious as to what decision Steven would make, seeing that he cared about his Pearl and about the corruptions. Nearly all of the corruptions on Earth where from Pink's court to begin with. Rebells or non-rebells, both sides loyal to the same person.

Steven felt a bead of sweat drip down the right side of his forehead, then switched his panicked glance from White to Pearl, as if asking her to give him permission to make the decision. He knew what choice must be made, and he knew exactly what Pearl would tell him to do- but he had to try to negotiate first. "Why Pearl? This was my fault! Why don't you punish me and then heal the corrupted gems?" He asked, knowing that there was no way White would just do something for free. He started to get a hand of how she thought, and how her mind worked in general. White took away the pain of others by replacing it with a worse type of pain. Similar to the term a head for a head, that's how she saw things.

"Oh stars no. Can't you see that I can see right through you Steven? This is your punishment too. You have to spend the rest of your life with a voiceless Pearl." White chuckled when she saw Steven's upset reaction. This was all too easy for her. "You would suffer more by seeing his friends suffer than yourself. That was proven when you surrendered yourself as Rose Quartz not long ago! I'm sure Yellow and Blue remember that." The Diamond waved her polished hand around carelessly, giving the other two diamonds a quick look through her long eye lashes as they nodded in silence.

Yellow and Blue knew that there was nothing that could be done for the Pearl. This was as close as White would get to helping them. They didn't want to speak up now and possibly cause her to change her mind. In their point of view, everything seemed to be going well. The voice of a Pearl was a small price to pay in their eyes. But to Steven, it was a rather big deal since he cared so much about his Pearl. She was probably the closest thing to a mother he had, and would ever have. Yellow and Blue could never understand, and sometimes Pearl didn't understand ether.

Then Steven felt a slender hand on his left shoulder from behind. He turned around as the hand moved away, and saw Pearl still on the floor on her knees. She was facing him with a smile on her face and no tears left to cry. She seemed content, and determined as if she had already moved past the shocking reality of no longer having a voice. But what Pearl actually did was put that thought aside for another day, deciding to focus on their main mission and keeping Steven safe.

She looked up at the half gem's confused face and wide eyes. He probably had no idea why she was smiling and no longer crying. Pearl may not be able to speak, but she knew how to get across to him. She gave him a confident nod, and the boy knew she meant for him to accept things how they were. This was Pearl saying "I'll sacrifice my voice for the corrupted gems." Through nothing but a determined look in her eyes and a nod. Steven however, hesitated. He wanted to say something back, and tell her there must be another way- but he couldn't mess up now. If he did something wrong- White might cut off the deal and leave the corruptions in to eternal insanity on Earth. He knew what he had to do, and just had to hope that him and his friends on Earth could find a way to lift this curse from Pearl.

"Ok White. I accept these terms." Steven replied in a monotone voice as he turned to face her again, looking up confidently as the shining Diamond clasped her hands. "Wonderful! I'll have the list sent to your ship, and I'm sure Yellow can instruct you on your next steps." White stood up from her throne, her glimmering cape drooped down as she did so. "This ends the case." She said her final words as she lifted her arms to form her diamond-pose, making the crowd roar and cheer. Yellow and Blue got up as well, standing patiently as the Homeworld gems celebrated the successful trial and the magnificence of their Diamonds. Everyone was clapping or saluting, except Steven and the Diamonds themselves- and the Pearls, who had to remain still and graceful as the Diamonds accessories. They weren't allowed to act in such a way, ever, unless ordered to by their owners. And Pearl on the other hand was defiantly in no mood to be celebrating the loss of her voice, but rather to celebrate Steven's success. It may take a long time to go through that list of lost gems, but at least in the end White Diamond was willing to heal them all.

As the little ceremony ended, Steven and Pearl headed back to Pink's room whilst some of the Homeworld Bismuth's and Aquamarine's repaired and cleaned the legs-ship. It was a common thing for the gems to prepare the ship for launch the best they could for a Diamond, even if it was already in fine condition. Yellow had briefly mentioned to Steven before walking back to her own room, that the preparation for his ship should only take about an hour. Thankfully this gave him time to take a short nap since he didn't realize until now that the trial had taken place at midnight for him. No wonder he had been so tired, but he was just grateful that White didn't make the trial last more than two days. Apparently that happened sometimes. Whenever White started to get frustrated, or had something to attend to, she would call for a break that could last as long as a week, keeping everyone at edge. At least this time, Steven was able to come to an agreement with White without having her loose her temper or pause the trail. Everything would have been great if it weren't for her taking Pearl's voice away...

Pink Pearl stood by Steven's bed protectively, while the other Pearl was slumped on the ground with her back turned against them. The depression from the trial was hitting her right now, which was a perfect time since Steven was sleeping- and he wouldn't have to witness her cry and fall apart. How would he feel if his mother figure started crying her eyes out because of a decision he had made? This was a victory. She shouldn't be crying at all, since it would only make Steven feel guilty. The last thing she wanted was to leave Homeworld with a sad Steven standing beside her. He should be happy and celebrating, and Pearl couldn't let this small price she had to pay ruin it for everyone. She had to remain happy and calm in front of him- so this was the only time to break down. The gem sobbed quietly, putting her hand on her chest and wishing desperately to have her voice back.

"I-it's not fun, is it?" Pink Pearl spoke up, an uneasy vibe coming from her. She sounded almost like a child and had a soft tone in her voice, and defiantly exaggerated her yowls like a heavy American accent. "Having something taken from you because of someone else." She sighed, fighting her own feelings that wanted to be sorry for Pearl and maybe even feel sympathy for her. But that thought had been pushed aside quickly. In her mind, Pearl got what she deserved. And now, the pale gem would spend the rest of her life experiencing what Pink Pearl had to go through.

Wanting to say something, but unable to.

Having the pained mark of White Diamond on her physical form.

Most importantly, the loss of Pink.

Now Pink Pearl felt like she had her Diamond all to herself. Steven, all to herself, who she still saw as Pink Diamond. Sure he may not have Pink's memories, but he had her beaming personality and shining gem on the same spot that she did in the centre of her stomach. Since the pale Pearl couldn't speak, she was now a defect. A useless Pearl who wouldn't even be able to accept a command from her own Diamond.

"Don't worry. Steven will be ok.. I know you're worried about him since you can't exactly speak anymore.. but he has me." She tried not to sound too cocky, but couldn't help but feel a little chuffed as if she had the upper hand. She looked over at her with a grin, like a royal looking down at a useless peasant.

But Pearl obviously didn't reply, and that ended the conversation immediately. So until the boy woke up, the Pearls silently remained in the pink room with him. Pink Pearl was still standing tall on the floor near the end of Steven's bed when he woke up, with her eyes closed and hands folded neatly behind her back. Pearl stood on the far side of the room near the triangular door, leaning against the wall with her arms folded in front of herself as if she was protecting her body or giving herself a hug. She had a look of defeat on her face, and seemed to be sulking a little over the precious comments Pink Pearl had made. But when she saw movement from the corners of her eyes, she straightened her back and shifted her weight on to her two feet planted firmly on the tiles underneath. She gave Steven a light smile as he sat up in his bed, smiling back and rubbing his eyes with a yawn.

Pink Pearl opened her peach pink eyes and smiled as she saw her Diamond wake up from his beauty nap. "Welcome back Steven!" She said happily, picking up on how the other Pearl had been calling her Diamond. He was no longer she, and didn't like being called Pink or Pink Diamond, so Pink decided to call him Steven- just how he liked it. She was so happy to see him smile back at her as he hopped out of bed.

"Good morning Pearl! And Pearl! Wait.. I should probably call you Pink Pearl so I don't get you all confused!" He nervously scratched the back of his head with a silly smile on his face. And as if on time, the triangular door on the other side of the room hissed open. Pearl flinched as she felt the sudden gush of cool air blow in as the door opened. On the other side stood Yellow Pearl with her strict gaze. "Pink Diamond, your ship is ready." She said clearly and swiveled around on her heel and started walking down the quiet hallway. Steven whispered a quick fair-well to the pebbles huddled under his bed, and followed Yellow Pearl along the hall with his Pearls behind him.

It had been about a thirty minute walk across the long bridge from Pink's quarters to the football field-sized landing pad where the tall bright pink legs stood up formally. Steven couldn't even see the hips once he stood underneath it, looking up at the blanket of starts in an attempt to see where his ship stretched out to. "Wow." Was all that came out of his mouth as he viewed the shining pair of legs standing on heels and looking like a whole new ship. He almost couldn't believe only a few minutes ago a thousand gems had been working on repairing and improving his ship, since it was so empty and silent now. Not a trace of any gems remained.

Suddenly loud foot steps were heard from behind Steven down the long bridge he had walked along with the three Pearls. He turned around and squinted his eyes to see the source of stomping sounds and shakiness of the bridge. Yellow and Blue Diamond were making their way towards him with ease. To them it must be a four or five minute walk because of their sizes. As Steven predicted, Yellow and Blue arrived a few feet in front of him in less than five minutes. When the Diamonds came to a halt, Yellow Pearl gracefully moved back to stand next to her Diamond with a cat-like smile on her face. Blue Pearl was already standing beside her Diamond, her legs crossed elegantly in front of the other and mesh skirt flowing in the wind of Homeworld.

Yellow cleared her throat and scanned the shinning pink ship in front of her for any imperfections or broken parts. But as usual, the members of her court had done a fine job at the repairs. "Before you go.." The Diamond crouched down, getting a closer look Steven as the boy still his chin up high to look up at her. "I wanted to give you this." She lowered her clenched fist down to Steven, opening her palm to reveal a small three dimensional diamond shaped device that looked very familiar to him. It was only when Steven held it firmly in his hands that he realized it was the same device that Peridot had stolen from the moon base to contact Yellow Diamond a very long time ago. As he held it preciously, Yellow stood back up and smiled in a thin line at Steven who mimicked her smile. "Its a direct communication-hub device that will take you straight to my line if you need any thing. This one is reusable and also has the ability to project the list White sent to your ship. Then you don't have to go back and forth when you're looking for those… gems." She said uneasily, vaguely remembering the creature that was once a Nephrite.

"Steven.." Blue Diamond also smiled, her eyes becoming glossy as she spoke. "You are always welcome here if you want to come back to visit." The gentle tone in her words were almost motherly, but nothing could every top Pearl's soothing words whenever he was upset. He then remembered that he probably wouldn't hear Pearl's voice for a while, and gratefully took in Blue's heartfelt words. "Thank you Blue. Do you think.. you guys could come to Earth with us? It would be so much quicker if we had your help!" Steven had white stars in his pupils from the thought of his now half-family Diamonds coming to Earth again. He could introduce all his friends and then no one in Beach City would have to fear them any more. But Yellow shook her head, a frowning Blue beside her as she watched Yellow speak like business men. "No. We both have things to attend to on Homeworld. Busy schedules, appointments, and we also have to be here for White. She barley let us both leave when we went to Earth for the Cluster." Yellow crossed her arms under her gem as she finished speaking her part. Blue seemed to sense the sudden tension in her fellow Diamond and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She felt Yellow flinch a bit at the touch, but used her powers to help her destress a little. "Me and Yellow will be here, and maybe we can come and visit- but for now, I think we should all stand down and make sure White doesn't change her mind about anything." Blue said in her soothing tone again, looking down at Steven who nodded in acknowledgement. "Ok." He sighed and looked over his shoulder at the bright ship, and then back up at Yellow and Blue. "I guess this is good bye… for now.." His expression became sad as Blue lowered her hand in front of him whilst kneeling. "One last hug." She had small tears coming out of her eyes, and Steven couldn't help but cry a bit as well despite the happy smile on his face. He hopped on to her palm and she brought him up to her eye level before gently letting him hug her cheek, and this time it was less awkward since he wasn't being rubbed on her cheek. Steven hugged with his own tears in his eyes before stepping back. "Yellow." Blue said as she watched the Diamond cup her yellow gloved hands beside the hand Steven was on. He got off of the blue palm and went on to the yellow one. She brought him up to eye level, and spoke first. "If there is anything else you need, you should tell me now." She said sternly, the darker yellow blush still on her face from holding such a small being in her palm.

"Well.. It would be great if you guys could help even a little bit- You can poof a gem in one zap!" Steven said, even though he knew what Yellow's answer would be. He just never expected to actually be happy about Yellow's powers for the first time, even Yellow seemed proud for a brief second. "Steven, I told you me and Blue have to stay…" She frowned, but then her gaze fell to her boots- and the thin Yellow Pearl quietly standing next to it. She looked back at Steven, the frown no longer on her face. "Our Pearl's are specially trained in combat, you can take them for help." She looked over at Blue for approval, and she nodded. Steven seemed uneasy about that sentence, but brushed it off when the Pearl's didn't look upset or distressed about it. Besides, it would be so much better if he could change the Pearl's perspective on the world, and help them become their own gem! Maybe they would even join the Crystal Gems and decide to live on Earth with him. He hated seeing the Pearls being pushed around on Homeworld, so this was a small start to helping out the all of the mistreated Pearls.

Steven thanked both of them before running off of Yellow's hands towards her- he was still high up from the ground at her eye level. He chuckled while he jumped and fell only a little before hugging on to Yellow's cheek like a star fish. "Huugggs!" He laughed, while Yellow remained wide eyed with a faint blush across her face. "Ok thats enough." She seemed embarrassed as her gloved palm was brought to her chin and Steven let go, landing on it gracefully. Then the hand lowered him back down to the ground, and Steven stepped off. The awfully quiet Pearl let out a silent sigh of relief when she saw him finally touch back down on the floor again.

"Go on Pearl." Blue nudged her frail Pearl with her hand, and the startled gem snapped out of her day dreaming and walked over to stand behind Steven along with the other Pearls. Yellow gave her Pearl a sharp look. "You too." She commanded, and Yellow Pearl replied. "Yes my Diamond." She sounded like a teachers pet as she said so, and then joined the other three Pearls behind him. Steven looked over his shoulder again and scratched the back of his head uneasily as he glanced at all the four Pearls. "Wow.. thats- a lot of Pearls. I hope the house doesn't end up looking like a hotel!" He joked, but no one understood and the Diamonds just looked at each other with a shrug.

"Ill call you when I get back on Earth!" Steven waved to his Diamond family, a pink bubble engulfing him and the Pearls as they were transported to the inside of the ship.

Yellow and Blue both wrapped an arm around each other, looking up at the dark sky covered in a blanket of stars. They watched peacefully as the pink legs launched in to space and disappeared. "Good luck Steven."


	12. Chapter 12

The Voice of Pearl

 _Chapter Twelve_

The silence tugging at all of them seemed grow stronger as the minutes went by. Yellow Pearl was standing up tall in front of the pink control panel on the left side of the main view-port in the ship. Blue Pearl quietly monitored the screen through her thick wavy locks of hair covering her face and parting at her pointed nose. Steven stood in the centre of the large pink room, with the window stretched across in front of him with a view of nothing but white lines whizzing past them as they continued warming through space in a single, smooth momentum. The faint holograph of the pink legs covered Steven's own legs, and he stood there with his mouth shut in a straight line. Thoughts turning gears in his mind as he tried to figure out how he was going to explain everything to his friends and family back on Earth. Since Pearl couldn't exactly speak anymore, he would have to tell them what went down and what the plan was for the corrupted gems. Hopefully the other three Pearl's could save Steven some time and introduce themselves.

Pink Pearl stood right beside Steven on his right, mere inches apart from his shoulder as the boy kept catching the gaze of those peach pink pupils. The taller gem would always blush a darker shade of pink and glance away when ever Steven looked back up at her. While his own white-skinned Pearl kept on looking at the other gems in the room worryingly. Never once did she smile, or even put a reassuring hand on the half gem's shoulder. Her blue eyes farted around the room cautiously, occasionally giving Pink Pearl an unreadable glare that seemed to be more on the aggressive side. She was carful to make sure Steven didn't see her giving the Pink Pearl these hissing glares, but she couldn't help seeing another Pearl so close to her Steven.

And possibly having a weird crush on him.

It may be in a Pearl's nature to have romantic feelings for their owners, but Steven wasn't an owner. He's not Pink Diamond, and was like a son to Pearl. Obviously Pink Pearl still thought of him as Pink Diamond, and clearly doesn't quite understand how aging works yet. This was all too wrong, and she wished she could tell the other Pearl that Steven is half a human boy, that has his mother's gem and powers. He wasn't Pink Diamond and didn't consider himself more 'obligated' than the Pearls in the room. He didn't have those kind of standards and treated everyone like they were his friend.

Pearl let out a silent sigh as she straightened up her posture and looked ahead at the confusing swirling patterns beyond the window suddenly settle in to a frozen view of Earth. Like a perfect painting, the green and blue planet appeared in the centre of the inky black space. Getting bigger and bigger as they neared it. The excited Steven threw his arms in the air. "Yeah! Earth! Aw man- I don't think any of you have ever been to Earth- or even seen it in person, have you?" He asked joyfully to the Pink Pearl beside him, who shook her head along with the hesitant Blue and Yellow Pearl.

"..I've only ever seen Earth on the monitors.." Blue Pearl's soft voice seemed louder in the silent large room of the ship. She smiled and turned her body slightly to face Steven. Then the Yellow Pearl responded, keeping her back turned to the boy and her gaze fixed on the control panels under her fingers. "I used to check up on the cluster's progress by connecting to the active networks that were left on Earth during the Amethyst productions. It would be.. interesting to see how Earth was such a powerful incubator for the cluster." She said in her high pitched teacher-like tone. The yellow gem sounded so professional, and Steven knew instantly that Earth defiantly had a chance to change that. To help Yellow Pearl be more open and herself rather than acting like a business woman all the time.

The two Pearls have now said their comments upon their pre-landing check to Earth, and now Pink Pearl wanted to speak. With that magenta-like blush spread on her slim face, she looked down at Steven with a small smile while clasping her hands together. "I can't wait to finally get to see Earth! I was originally going to go with you for the invasion- until I was replaced..." Her eyes flashed at Pearl as a moment of sadness and anger swept across her briefly, before she continued. "But now I can actually see it! And get to go to Earth with you, and live there! I couldn't ask for a better future my Diamond!" Her shaky tone was all the proof Steven needed to know how happy she was about going to Earth. He smiled back at her, replying. "You'll love it here! It's so much different from five thousand years ago- there's more to do and places to see! Oh and don't forget the movies! Dogcopter and Lonely Blade are my favorites!" He chuckled slightly, and Pink Pearl mimicked the gesture.

The palest Pearl rolled her eyes at the Pink Pearl pretending to relate and understand what Steven was talking about during the whole landing. He mainly preached about all the movies, foods, amusement parks and rides, and music on Earth. Pearl usually would love it when Steven talked about the things he was so passionate about, but this time- all she could notice was how hard this other Pearl was trying to force herself closer to Steven. It was almost painful to watch her try so hard to get Steven to like her despite him liking everyone equally. She crossed her arms and looked away while the two had the Earthly conversation.

Meanwhile Blue and Yellow Pearl did most of the landing. It was as if Steven was in a driver's student car with an instructor, and the instructor was controlling the car the whole time effortlessly. No wonder the landing was so perfect compared to the take off. Only if Pearl had her voice, she could easily help and instruct Steven on what to do for a perfect landing so that he could learn to have better control over his mother's ship. Unfortunately that wouldn't be happening anytime soon, and possibly never. But there was a small flicker of hope that there would be a cure somewhere in this galaxy, maybe even on Earth..

"All engines have been turned off my Diamond. When ever you're ready I'll have us warped outside the ship." Yellow Pearl spoke in her strong and sharp words while standing a few feet away from Steven. Blue Pearl approached as well, not wanting to be left behind when they all warped outside the ship. She was however, more concerned as to where they were. Yes they were on Earth, but why in the middle of a desert? Nothing but sand and silent breezes hitting the pink metal of the ship form outside. But like always, she kept her thoughts to herself and her voice remained stuck in her own throat as her mind told her that the opinions of a Pearl do not matter unless asked by a superior gem.

Steven nodded with a beaming smile, ready as ever to get back to Beach City. The warp pad wasn't far from where the ship was parked, but the desert was a perfect place to keep a huge alien ship shaped like a pair of legs. Having that on the beach casting a shadow on the whole town didn't sound pleasant. "I'm ready! Are you three ready to set foot on Earth?" He asked with white starts twinkling in his pupils, and the three Pearls looked at each other with confusion. While the palest snickered silently to herself, since she knew that none of them must have understood Steven's phrase. Yellow Pearl even looked down at her own two feet in confusion before flicking her eyes back to Steven. "By landing on Earth I've already set foot on Earth my Diamond." She tilted her head a bit, wondering what Steven had meant. The boy however was busy being eager to explain, and replied. "You'll see! Now let's go!" And as he said those last words, a large pink bubble engulfed them as they went right through the thick strong walls of the ship and descended down to the sand covered ground.

The bubble unfurled from top to bottom as they stood in the dessert beside the tall legs planted firmly despite the soft ground texture. Yellow Pearl squinted her eyes as a strong gust of wind blew in from the front, small bits of sand skidding across her face as she judged it all. Steven could tell by the slightly annoyed look plastered on her pale yellow face that she wasn't enjoying Earth so far, but it had only been mere seconds! He rushed towards the warp pad and motioned for the four Pearls to follow. "This way!" He said as he ran for a few seconds before hopping on to a solid platform. The blue glossy warp pad stood out from the grainy beige sand that surrounded it like an ocean, and the four pearls easily found their way on the warp pad as well. Steven saved his words for their arrival back home, and only smiled as the five of them warped away back to the beach house.

The sunset tinted the whole inside of the house a shade of peachy-orange. The lights were all off during this transition to night, but the two crystal gems were there. Sitting on the couch across from Greg and Connie who sat on the wooden floor around the coffee table. There seemed to be some note books and sketches laid out like a map on the small table, but Steven only got a glance of it as Connie rushed to hoard them towards her with her spread out arms. "STEVEN!" She shouted, and none of them were sure if it was excitement or fear that struck in her tone. The papers and notes crumbled as she shoved them in to her backpack resting beside her on the floor.

"WHOA FOUR PEARLS?!" Amethyst's jaw hung wide from the sight of four elegant gems standing beside Steven like personal security guards. Garnet simply smiled and walked up to the half gem with a kneel, giving him a hug. "Welcome home." She said cheerfully as Steven thanked her. The dark red gem stood back up and let Greg swoop the boy up in his arms and gave him a bear hug. "I missed you kiddo! I was so worried- but you're here now!" He laughed happily while wiping away a small tear of joy that had slipped out the corner of his eye. "I'm ok! Pearl helped me out a lot on Homeworld, and now- we have more potential Crystal gems- oh man it's going to be GREAT!" He threw his arms in the air, a sign of pure happiness that would always make the pale gem smile. As soon as Greg Steven down from the hug, he walked up to Pearl with a small nervous smile. "..thanks for taking care of Steven out there..! I'm just- so grateful to have you in his life, I wouldn't know what to do if you hadn't been there for him! Probably would have panicked and then cried out in my van or something!" He chuckled at his own little joke, hoping to hear another chuckle in response but.. it never came. Pearl just smiled and opened her mouth to talk, or maybe to chuckle- but closed it in a thin line before it turned in to a frown. Sadness flashed over her eyes as the memory of her voice being taken away poured in as if it was happening all over again. Greg caught the frown and his own laughter died down. "..s..sorry.. that probably wasn't funny anyway.." he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, while Pearl quickly shook her head. She was eager to tell him that it wasn't the joke that she had been frowning at, but rather what had happened. Something that she couldn't explain, but thankfully relief overwhelmed her when Steven stepped in to their one person conversation.

"Dad...um..." His frown grew as he looked up to meet his eyes. "White Diamond took Pearl's voice in exchange for an agreement to cure the corrupted gems on Earth." Everything seemed to halt at his sentence, the world had never been more quieter to Steven. "White gave us a list. The list of all the missing gems from the Gem War on Earth. If we find and bubble all of these gems and send them back to Homeworld, the Diamonds will cure them! White would have never agreed to this deal if it wasn't for Pearl's sacrifice.. so it's really because of her that the corruptions will be saved." Steven smiled lightly at his motherly figure, who caught everyone's gaze and blushed a shade of blue from embarrassment. She had wished she could tell everyone that it was Steven who actually made this happen.

He was the one that changed White Diamond's mind.

When they all first arrived on Homeworld, there was no chance White would have agreed to cure all the corrupted gems. But after Steven spending a couple days there, working hard to convince the Diamonds- it all finally paid off. He accomplished something and was able to speak to the most powerful Diamond to exist and change her mind. It's something Pearl could only dream of herself doing, but maybe the dream was partly true? She never intended to change Pink Diamond's mind about invading Earth- but it happened anyway.

However, Pearl knew very well that Steven deserved the credit for this one. Pink Diamond didn't exactly have a strong mind like White, and was easily persuaded by other people's thoughts or opinions. Pearl could never top what Steven did a few hours ago, at such a young age with no one to support him but herself. And being half mortal probably didn't help him feel safe, but it did help him win the case. Pearl was most proud of the boys heart and determination, and she couldn't stop the small smile on her face any longer.

"You did a good job too Steven."

Pearl wished it was her own voice, but the voice belonged to Pink Pearl. The pale gem growled internally as her smile snapped away when those words were heard. Pink Pearl smiled brightly like a happy puppy as she gazed at Steven with sparkling eyes. Pearl on the other hand shifted her attention elsewhere to prevent herself from becoming agitated at the scene playing out before her. The conversation became a distant mumble as her eyes scanned the house for any defects or messes, forgetting about the human she had been 'talking' to.

"Oh geez.. I'm so sorry Pearl. If you every find a way to get your voice back, let me know. Ok? I'll try and help in every way!" He looked in to her pale blue eyes, and then looked at his son who nodded with determination. Steven responded with a smile "I know there's got to be some ancient gem thing left on Earth that could help her. I remember White saying there was a way, we just need to figure it out." He slammed a fist in to his palm determinedly as his gaze fell on to Garnet, Amethyst and Connie having what seemed to be a half pleasant conversation with the other two yellow and blue Pearls. It was then that he felt the need to introduce everyone to each other, so he made his way over to the small group and stopped half way, standing up on the coffee table and clearing his throat loudly as he grabbed everyone's attention.

The room fell silent and all eyes were on the small half gem standing on the table. "Attention gems and humans! Now that we are all here, I think it's time to properly introduce each other by saying our names and hobbies!" Steven smiled back at everyone, despite Yellow Pearl's confused look, he continued. "I'll go first. My name's Steven and I love to make new friends!" The happiness in his voice was obvious, and then he turned to his left. Garnet stood quietly, but after seeing Steven turn to her she spoke up. "Garnet. My hobby is being a Crystal gem." Her speech was quick, and then everyone's gaze was fixed on the gem standing next to Garnet which was Amethyst.

"Oh-" The purple gem woke up from her day dreaming and stood up straight. "My name's Amethyst! Or..." she shifted in to her wrestling form. "PURPLE PUMA! Yeah!" She chuckled. "And I like to wrestle, eat, sleep, find some useless junk and hang out with this little man!" She hopped up on the wooden coffee table next to Steven and put a strong arm around him. Scruffing up his hair with her free hand. The boy chuckled, but all Pearl noticed was the slight shake of the table the two were on. She wanted to badly to tell him to get down, but unfortunately she couldn't. But now that Amethyst was no longer shapeshifting and giving Steven an aggressive form of affection, the table seemed to settle and the next person spoke.

"Hi! I'm Connie!" She said facing the new Pearls. "I like to read books, but sword-fighting is my main thing! I left my sword at home today, but I can show you guys tomorrow if you want to see it? Bismuth made it for me— Wait!" She turned to Steven. "Shouldn't we invite Bismuth, Peridot and Lapis?They probably have no idea that you're home!" The human exclaimed, and Amethyst was quick to act. She hopped high up and flipped on to the warp pad while everyone watched. She gave the half gem a thumbs up and a wink. "I got this. You guys continue the welcome wagon!" She said with a huge smile, and Steven couldn't be more grateful that he didn't have to leave right when he got back. "Thanks Amethyst!" His voice caught her ears before the warp pad activated and shone brightly for a second. When the bright light was gone, So was Amethyst. And now that that was taken care of, it was time to introduce the next person who was Steven's dad.

"Welcome to Earth Pearl-Pearls..?" He chuckled nervously. "This is going to take some time getting used to..." the human mumbled before continuing. "The name's Greg, Greg Universe- or, ! I'm Steven's dad, and also part rockstar!" He joked as he reached over to the couch and held his guitar, strumming a few quick notes to impress. "I work at the car wash, but in my free time I write music. Most of my recent songs are inspired by Steven and his magical missions!" The proud dad gave his son a look that said 'thank you' before returning to the crowd of three Pearls. "I mean.. I help with missions sometimes- but around here, I'd say I'm more of a side character." The shrug followed, and once again Yellow Pearl looked at Blue Pearl for any signs of acknowledgement. Since Yellow Pearl has no idea what any of these terms meant, none of the Pearls did except the silent Pearl. Who happened to be the next one up in the introduction circle they were magically standing in. She just awkwardly looked away, almost shamefully. There was nothing she could say and the other Pearls pretty much knew her already. Maybe even better than anyone else in this room did. They knew of the horrible things she had done whilst serving White Diamond, and what she had done to Pink Pearl- she still felt horrible about that.

"Oh.. uh.. Pearl can't talk...so.. I'll help!" Steven hopped off the table and rushed over to stand next to his Pearl. The pale gem felt some tension fade as she watched Steven get off from that dangerous wooden table and stand beside her. "This is Pearl- or you guys might know her as White Pearl." He glanced at the three other Pearls. "She loves to dance, and clean up the house all the time!" He looked up at her and smiled, hoping for a smile back for some reassurance that he was doing ok with speaking for her. The boy was glad to see a faint smile back, and continued. "Pearl always looks out for me, and helped me become who I am today. She may not have her voice, but she still has so much more. She's different now and- I really think you guys could all be great friends!" Steven looked at the three Pearls, who glanced at each other, and then at Pearl before looking back at Steven. Yellow Pearl almost said something before Pink Pearl interrupted. "If you say so, Steven." She gave him half a fake smile before a bright light shone from the warp pad-

"STEEVEENNNN!"

Peridot ran over to the half gem and gave him a huge hug. "Peridot!" He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her in response. "You reformed!" The boy watched as she stepped back, twirling on her heel and showing off her new outfit. The green gem grinned and struck a pose with her hands on her hips. "Yep! Cool, right? I got a personalized version of Garnet's glasses-" She put a hand on her yellow large glasses and fixed them in place as they glimmered in the light. "And Pearls former top- in my colours though!" She pointed to the small star on her chest, and then motioned to her legs. "I was also inspired my Amethyst's leggings! Instead of having a stupid yellow diamond on my knees, I got stars!" She happily laughed and hopped up like an energetic child, making Steven laugh too.

"Lapis! Bismuth!" He gave them both quick hugs. "I like your new outfit too!" He said to Lapis, who looked away with a small blush of embarrassment. "Eh.. I went for the more.. comfortable option." She shrugged, and next Bismuth spoke. "Glad to see you in one piece Steven! So.. how was Homeworld?" She asked as she kneeled to get to his eye level. There was just too much to tell her, he couldn't possibly say everything right now. "That's a story for tomorrow- for now, I have new Crystal Gems to introduce!" He held her larger hand and dragged the gem along to the welcome circle.

"Wha-" Bismuth was speechless as she froze in her tracks, seeing three other Pearls. Not any Pearls, but the Diamond's personal Pearls. All standing right under the same roof in a perfect posture. "Oh great..not these guys-!" Peridot complained as she caught up with Bismuth and Steven, joining the welcome group with Lapis who crossed her arms and thinned her eyes at the new Pearls. Steven rushed to reassure everyone. "No it's ok! They're different now, and they are all here to help cure the corrupted gems!" He uneasily stepped between them, hoping that they would understand. But out of the three shocked gems, Peridot still seemed the most annoyed at the new Pearls.. or one Pearl in particular-

"You're the Peridot that called my Diamond a.. a clod!" Yellow Pearl snapped and stepped forward, which only encouraged Peridot to start a fight. "She is a clod! And you- you just do whatever she wants you to do even when it's bad! I can't believe..." She clenched her green fists, but within seconds they relaxed and she let out a sigh. "..I can't believe I was just like you..." She looked up at the shocked Yellow Pearl, who was once again speechless. "You know- Earth changed me, and I bet it can change you too." She smiled slightly, making the other Pearl uncomfortable as she looked away to the side, responding. "A planet can't possibly change who I am." She huffed, thinking logically just as Peridot suspected- since she too used to do that a lot. "You're right. A planet can't change you, but the people on it can." She sighed.

"She's totally right!" Connie hopped in on the conversation. "The people- the humans on Earth changed all the gems! It changed Pink Diamond and everyone in this room to become a better version of themselves!" She said as the palest Pearl nodded proudly in agreement. "Crystal gem or not, we all welcome you-" She looked at the new pearls. "To our home, Earth."


End file.
